


The Noblest of Nobles

by Zamazou



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Blue Lions Route, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:22:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 39,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26311852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zamazou/pseuds/Zamazou
Summary: Ferdinand gets to know and appreciate the mercenary who saved the lives of the house leaders, and tries his best to earn her attention.
Relationships: Ferdinand von Aegir & My Unit | Byleth, Ferdinand von Aegir/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 56
Kudos: 42





	1. Introduction

Rumor had already spread across the monastery, about the mercenary who had apparently saved the lives of Fodlan's three future leaders. A young woman and the famous blade breaker was it...? 

Ferdinand was eager to meet them, they were apparently staying at the monastery for now, perhaps were they joining the knights of seiros? Maybe he would even get the chance to spare against them and prove his CLEAR superiority to Edelgard, he thought as he wondered off to his classroom. 

After all, it was already outrageous enough that he didn't get to be class leader of the black eagles. Well yes she might have been the imperial princess but that didn't mean that she was in whatever way superior to him, he was, after all the heir to the prestigious house Aegir. 

As he was walking down the hall, he saw a young woman, teal haired, speaking with Edelgard, could it be...? 

"... and that would be all you need to know about the black eagl-" Edelgard sighed as she turned to face the ginger haired boy. "Would this lady be the famous mercenary who saved you, Edelgard?" The woman next to Edelgard looked a bit... blank? It was hard to tell what she was thinking, but he wasn't going to let Edelgard take all her attention! "Yes." The white haired woman answered coldly. "Ah! I must introduce myself then, I am Ferdinand Von Aegir, heir to the noble house of prime ministers of the empire, house Aegir, its an honor to meet you" he bowed slightly and looked back up to watch the woman's reaction, but really- he got no reaction.

"Byleth." Well... that was awkward, she should be at least slightly impressed, after all, he was the future prime minister of the empire. "W-well I shall take my leave", he bowed slightly and quickly walked away feeling slightly embarrassed at the lack of attention that he was given. 

He got to class to meet with the rest of the eagles, even though, they would not have class today technically because their teacher had decided to run away the night of the fight, "shameful", he thought, but then who would teach them now? Surely the church must be looking for someone else to take the job, however they might also end up with Manuela or Hanneman. He'd prefer to have Manuela if anything, he was quite a fan of hers.

Linhardt was talking to Caspar, while Hubert was just keeping guard outside the door, probably waiting for Edelgard. He saw Dorothea having a conversation with Petra in the back of the class, to which he bowed in acknowledgement only for her to roll her eyes, "Hmm odd, have I perhaps done something to anger her?" He thought before seeing an anxious Edelgard entering the class, what was she thinking? 

As the students were waiting for the church to find a new teacher, they were doing class discussions and the such, with Edelgard always trying to be the center of attention, as expected. 

*********

Byleth had spoken with each of the house leaders, really she was still surprised about her appointment, what was Lady Rhea thinking? She has no experience with such an important job, after all, she will be teaching future nobles and important head figures of Fodlan no matter what house she picks. 

And that choice wasn't easy either, all of the houses had some charm to them.

She had first spoken to Edelgard, who told her all she had to know about the black eagles, they were an interesting bunch, all of them were nobles except the songstress, Dorothea. And then there was that ginger man that she spoke with, Ferdinand was it? He had lost no time shoving his status in her face. Perhaps is it not the house for her? That including the odd looks Edelgard gives her, like she's judging her every movement.

Then she was stopped by Claude, he seemed more laid back, he acted much less noble than the people she met from the black eagles, and he seemed friendlier, was it just a mask? She couldn't really tell, but his house seemed more welcoming.

Finally it was Dimitri, he was a very polite young man, everything about him seemed sincere, expect... was he hiding something dark? His house, the blue lions was full of hardworking individuals, they were all very sweet, especially Mercedes and Anette, those two were simply adorable. Well yes Felix seemed grumpy but she could tell that he REALLY liked swordmanship, and luckily enough, that was her speciality, and Sylvain would be... interesting to deal with but at least Ingrid could keep him in check, she thought.

She was rethinking about everything she had learned about the three houses, it will not be an easy choice. 


	2. The New Professor

This morning the church had announced that it had hired a new teacher, this would mean that class would start again as normal today. And as any true noble, Ferdinand had to show up early to class to show how much more hardworking he was than Edelgard. 

As he was combing his eyebrows (as any true noble) his mind started to drift to what happened yesterday. That woman, Byleth, she had outright ignored him! He had to make up for it somehow, he would go and find her today after class, she should be somewhere around the monastery. The only person who had given him a similar treatment was Dorothea, the young woman seemed to treat him differently from the others.

At the same time he was also wondering about their teacher, would they get the new professor? After all it was theirs that ran away, hopefully this time it would be someone worthy of the black eagles. If not then Manuela and Hanneman were both excellent instructors, but he had to say, he really hoped if it was out of the two to be Manuella. 

Memories started to rush through his head, back when he was a kid, he would adore to watch her shows at the mittlefrank opera. A true icon she was back then, the best of her generation, how heartbroken he felt when he learned that she had left the opera. If anything he couldn't express how happy he was to see her again. Although he still hasn't had a real talk with her ever since, he should invite her over for some tea sometime. 

As he left his room he spotted Lorenz, the latter putting up a frown. Ferdinand loved Lorenz's company, he seemed like the only person beside himself who understood the virtues of nobility, as opposed to most of the black eagles, ESPECIALLY Linhardt, though he would get back to him about training, as a true noble he had trouble simply looking at him without getting upset, sleeping all the time, how would he handle and protect his territory after enheritence? Thinking about all of this angered him so he instead decided to focus on the purple haired man infront of him.

"What is wrong my friend? Is it because of Claude again?" Lorenz was startled for a second, before replying, "Ah- Ferdinand, unfortunately yes. How nonchalant of him! Instead of focusing on our classes he is just always trying to get that mercenary's attention!" Ferdinand raised an eyebrow, why were all the house leaders so invested with her, sure she had saved their lives, but still. "He should take his status more seriously! What is he thinking, she is but a commoner, surely, I had the occasion to look at her, very um- attractive but still, one should have more self control!" 

Attractive huh? Ferdinand was recalling her face, he hadn't put much emphasis on her appearance, but thinking about it again, yes she was quite beautiful. She had short teal hair and large blue eyes, and a petite stature, he wasn't quite as tall as Lorenz, but he still towered over her. 

"Ferdinand?" He snapped out of his thoughts. "My apologies Lorenz, I've simply been thinking about who this new teacher could be, and if they will teach us". He thought for a second before remembering that he was heading early to class. He bid Lorenz farewell and went that way. 

*****

To his disappointment Petra was the first to arrive to class, she seemed like quite an early bird. Well at least he got here before Edelgard, that was the essential.

He went to sit down at the front of the class, students started to pour in one after the other, first Dorothe, then Caspar. Finally Edelgard and Hubert came into class with what seemed to be a sleepy Linhardt and an anxious Bernadetta, well- Edelgard must have made sure to bring them to make a good impression on the teacher.

She did seem quite anxious however, like she was hoping for a specific person. Does she know about the new professor? Are they that talented? 

A few minutes passed before Seteth came in with... Manuella! He felt his chest pulse with excitement, truly he couldn't wait to learn with her! He looked over at Edelgard, she seemed disappointed, _How_ _disrespectful_ he thought, even if she wanted someone else she shouldn't be so obvious about it, hopefully Manuella wouldn't notice. Dorothea was sharing his enthusiasm, he had heard that she had been in the same opera as Manuella, they must know each other.

***** 

After class was over, he looked one final time at Edelgard and saw the same frown as when Manuella was announced to be their teacher. He decided to have a few words with Manuela.

As he went outside, he saw Lorenz and headed towards him. "So?" Ferdinand asked eagerly to know who was teaching the Golden dears, perhaps it was the new teache- "Hanneman." Lorenz replied, "Claude's face was a sight to see thought" he smirked intensely. So that would mean that... " The blue lions earned the new teacher huh? Edelgard was also bumped that we had Manuella, I wonder who they are..."

Lorenz's eyes shot open in surprise "You still don't know? I was truly shocked, but I suggest you head to the training grounds, the blue lions are having a training session with the new teacher I heard, Claude followed them there" Who could it be? He could no longer wait he left immediately for the training grounds.

*****

It had been a hard decision, but when Lady Rhea asked her to pick a house to teach, her choice ultimately fell on the blue lions. She didn't really know why she picked them, perhaps she just grew fond of Dimitri, or maybe it was because most of them were focused on the military arts, instead of magic or archery. 

Seteth had then accompanied her to her class, the man was stern and she could even feel that he somewhat disliked her. She couldn't blame him thought, her appointment was weird, but she shrugged that thought when they were standing outside of the blue lions classroom. 

As they got in everyone turned to face them and she saw all of Dimitri's features light up. She really liked his smile, it seemed so sincere compared to the other two.

She could hear a few people whisper, before Seteth cleared his throat to say "This is Miss Eisner, your new professor as appointed by Lady Rhea." Everyone except Dimitri were shocked, she was indeed pretty young, perhaps younger than some students, really, she hopes that this won't make teaching awkward. 

Annette jumped out of her seat "Wait! YOU are our professor, I can't believe it! I was talking with you like we were classmates!" She seemed really embarrassed with herself and tried to apologize.

"No need for such formalities", the young girl didn't seem really convinced, they all seemed to want to show her respect as their new teacher.

"But if she says its fine, then it shouldn't be a problem, right your highness?" The red head seemed fine with it, after all if they spoke so casually with the future king, then why not with their teacher?

They had agreed to less formalities but some were still reluctant, especially Ingrid, until Sylvain started flirting, she hit him pretty hard- but someone had to keep him in check.

"Come train with me later, I want to see what you're capable off" Felix was it? She looked forward to training the young man most, he trained with a sword, her weapon of choice. He was the only student that mainly used a sword, she also recalled a young woman from the black eagles who was also a very talented swordsman. But ultimately no one here was as excited about swords as the raven haired man, he will surely be interesting to have around. Huh did he just tsk at Dimitri? Well he doesn't seem the most sociable, and neither is she really.

"U-Um I would love to observe you fighting, if thats okay with you, of course" the small freckled boy, Ashe, she didn't know much about him, but he seemed quite nice.

"I'll come along in case someone gets injured, I'll heal you up in no time" Mercedes, she and Anette were extremely welcoming, there was a very mature air about her, yet she was still playful and fun to have around.

"Your highness, you must be careful", next to Dimitri was standing a man so tall he towered over everyone in the monastery, he was very quite but he had proposed to cook for her as thanking for saving Dimitri, he seemed extremely devoted to the latter.

"So professor, what do you think? Its true our house is very animated, but everyone here is a hard worker. I can't wait to see what this year holds for us." Dimitri looked around at everyone and she nodded her head. 

"Well how about a training session after class? I want to see what everyone is capable of" Everyone seemed eager to see her fight, and oddly she was looking forward to it. "Now let's start class." 

*****

As he opened the doors to the training ground, he could see a crowd forming, all of the blue lions were present, as well as a bunch of students from the other two houses, he could even spot Dorothea, Petra and Caspar. 

When Caspar spotted him, he yelled for him to come closer "Ferdinand! Come look how she fights he had no chance against her!".

He turned his head to see her, the beautiful teal haired mercenary, her and Felix were circling each other. She had apparently just beaten Sylvain, the latter sitting in a corner rubbing at an aching shoulder while Mercedes helped him with some faith magic. She must've gone pretty hard on him.

"W-wait where is the new teacher?", Dorothea looked over to him "Oh Ferdie you haven't realized it yet? The professor is the one fighting Felix, Miss Byleth Eisner I believe, isn't she just adorable?" She giggled before turning back to watch the fight.

What? How could she be the new teacher? She seemed their age, he wondered if she was even older than him. How could the church hire someone this young? 

He was snapped out of his thoughts when Felix initiated the fight, they had been circling and Felix must have seen an opening. He rushed towards her with his training sword, but she dodged it. 

Felix immediately caught up on it, the man was probably one of the best students in the monastery, even he, Ferdinand von Aegir would be reluctant to fight him one on one. 

As the man steadied himself to attack again, he was taken aback at how fast the woman was, she was quite small thought, so how much strength could she really hav- 

Everyone gasped when she easily tripped Felix and caught him in a grip "Yield" she said, the man still trying to get out of her grip to no avail. If it was a real fight, Felix would have been dead. Was she that strong...? 

"F-Fine I yield", she let Felix go, the latter had a face of disappointment on his face, he must not have expected to be taken down with such ease. 

Caspar was running towards the teacher "PLEASE LET ME FIGHT YOU", he shook his head, the man had no self control, and besides she wasn't their teacher so she wasn't obliged to allow them to participate in their trainings.

"Sure why not" Caspar was jumping from excitement, he wondered if... no he wouldn't ask he didn't want to bother her like Caspar. It was quite nice of her to let Caspar participate, he was sure that Hanneman would've rolled his eyes if that happened with him. 

Caspar lasted even less than Felix, and after that a lot of the students wanted to fight, Raphael, Petra, Leonie, and the rest of the blue lions. Everyone was on the floor in no time, but everyone seemed satisfied. She hadn't refused anyone's request, she seemed willing to help everyone.

Dorothea seemed reluctant at first but ended up trying as well, she seemed to want to take on the sword as her main weapon alongside reason magic, perhaps he could even help her, that would fix whatever bad image she had of him. 

"How about you?" She was looking at him, and he felt himself flustered over those small words, why? "You seem to have the body type that would make good work out of a Lance" Goddess, now he must be blushing. He knew that she didn't mean anything inappropriate... but still her looking at him like that- 

"Kinda like Sylvain and Dimitri, well I'd have to see you fight to be sure" Oh ok- well now he knew she wasn't looking at his body specifically, did he feel... disappointed? 

He walked over and grabbed a training Lance, and so did she. Did she feel like he wasn't worth fighting against with her weapon of choice? Well he would show her what he was capable of. 

They began to circle around each other, theorically, he was taller so he would have an advantage, but after seeing her beat Dedue and Raphael, both of whom tower over him, he doubted it. 

He saw her flinch for a second, and without further thoughts he attacked her with his lance. But before he could do anything she dodged his strike and landed a kick on his arm, making his lance fall. 

Before he could even think of getting it back, she tripped him over on his back and got on top of him, holding both of his wrists. He could not move or do anything about this situation, he never felt this embarrassed and hoped it would he over quickly as he had lost all abilities to articulate words. 

She was looking straight into his eyes, still holding him immobile, he wondered what she was thinking. As he took the time to look at her from closer, he realized how truly beautiful she was. Now he must be extremely red as he heard what seemed like Dorothea giggle in the background. 

"Ferdinand, will you yield?" She must have been asking for a few times as Dorothea was practical rolling over with laughter with Sylvain by her side. "Y-yes I yield".

He hadn't even lasted a single minute, he had probably spent more time on the ground with her on top than fighting. Goddess. 

The last person who was fighting the professor was the crown prince of Faerghus, Dimitri. 

He had heard rumors about the raw strength that his crest gave him, the crest of Blaiddyd. He could apparently bend metal weapons like rubber. 

Dimitri also favored lances, and the professor used the same. She was again, able to trip him. However, she wasn't able to hold him down for very long! He thought his eyes would pop out as he was watching them fight, she was clearly faster, but his strength is incomparable. Her usual tactic would not work with Dimitri. 

Dimitri was doing the best out of everyone, he was still standing after 5 minutes! Though he did not have the edge, it was far better than what he had done himself.

Dimitri accidentally broke his Lance when she dodged one of his attacks and it ended up making a hole in the ground. 

"Well that will be all for today" she said looking at Dimitri, the latter looking embarrassed, "see you in class tomorrow" she said to the lions before leaving. Dorothea followed out winking at him before going, what could that mean? He thought. 

"Damnnn do we even stand a chance next week?" Caspar was practically whining.

Oh right. They had to fight the other two houses next week, could Manuela keep up with her? He doubted that. But they had to try nevertheless, HE had to try, and maybe get better to impress her. Clearly she was leagues above him as of now, that had to change. 


	3. Proving Himself

The day of the showoff between the three houses had arrived, it was still quite early in the morning when he heard a knock on his door. Who could it be this early?

He fixed himself slightly in his mirror before turning to open the door, as he opened it, he saw the blue lion's professor standing outside, she had her arms behind her back as to hide something. 

"Good morning professor, how can I help you?" He looked at her and she seemed a bit... anxious? 

"Um well, its your birthday so-" She got her hands out of her back and handed him a bouquet of roses. Roses?! His birthday? He had forgotten, and he surely wasn't expecting to receive flowers from her. 

"Professor, how did you know?" He looked shocked, he wasn't close to her or anything, he only got to take quick glances at her ever since their fight, she seemed busy with the Blue Lions and didn't want to bother her. 

He was satisfied with Manuela, but he would be lying to himself if he said he didn't wish she was their teacher. Something about her was... appealing. 

He knew he wasn't the only one to think so, her students seemed to love her, and he always caught glimpses of Edelgard staring at her. 

"Well I checked for everyone's birthday" Oh yes she knows everyone's birthdays now apparently. Nothing special here. "And I always see Lorenz wearing roses, so I thought you would like the same..." Nothing symbolic here with the roses, Ferdinand. 

"T-Thank you so much professor! I really appreciate it, would you like to come inside and have a cup of tea?" He was a bit flustered, inviting her into his room, but it was just for tea.

"Oh about that, right know I have to go check on my blue lions before the fight, but I was wondering if you would have tea with me this afternoon" Oh. She handed him the flowers and she was inviting him for tea on his birthday, she seemed really serious about wanting to celebrate his birthday. It made him feel warm. 

"O-of course professor!" She clapped her hands together "Great! I will serve the tea? Any specific blend you enjoy?" 

He didn't want to seem like a picky guest, but in terms of tea he did appreciate higher qualities. 

"Do you not like the southern fruit blend?" He was taken aback. How did she know about his favorite blend? This was the first time they will have tea together. 

"Professor how did you know? This is my favorite bland" She seemed satisfied with herself, "Well I just assumed, because you smell like it-" 

Smell like it?!? When had she smelled him? He couldn't help but blush, but she seemed like the oblivious type. "I know its weird for someone like me, but I do enjoy sampling teas- well anyways I must go now, I will see you in the afternoon and oh- good luck I'll be looking out to see your progress." 

She turned around and waved him good bye. He closed the door and sank on his bed, still holding the flowers she had gifted him. He wondered if anyone else would remember. Maybe he would recieve a letter from his father? 

His father... he admired all the hard work he had put in for the empire's sake, yet they have had an unstable relationship the past year. Disagreeing with him on the principles of nobility, and getting into arguments with him. 

Yet he still respected him.

*****

It was almost time for their stimulation battle, only four students as well as the house leader and teacher were allowed to participate. 

For the Black Eagles, Hubert, Dorothea, Linhardt and himself were picked. 

He couldn't shake a sudden feel of nervousness, will she think he made good progress? 

*****

  
"The day has finally arrived, professor. I'm impatient to be able to put my skills to the test. And you professor?" Dimitri was very happy to fight alongside her, she thought.

"Yes me too." They hadn't had much time to train, but they were all capable fighters nevertheless. 

"Well we can't do much except wish you good luck, I'll take this precious time to chat up with the beautiful ladies from the other classes." Sylvain said with a wink before receiving a hit from Ingrid on his shoulder. 

"Enough Sylvain, I really wish I could've participated, but I trust in your decision, professor" She did feel bad about Ingrid, she didnt want her to think that she thought she wasn't capable enough to participate. 

"We will be cheering you up!" Anette said as she was pumping her fists up in excitement. "I will keep my eyes open to learn as much as possible, professor!" Ashe added

"Ah wouldn't you have forgotten to invite us? Don't worry we won't bother you." Claude, he was up to something, no doubt about it.

"No matter what strategy you use against us, we will win easily" Edelgard said with confidence, perhaps too much confidence... She hopped that Ferdinand would be participating in the fight, it would be good to see how fast he can progress.

"We're not planning on loosing" she was not going to hold back on them, that was for sure.

*****

It was time for the fight now, he was standing on the Frontline for the black eagles with Dorothea and Hubert. 

Convincing Capar to not participate was a real pain, and convincing Linhardt to was equally irritating.

Edelgard's tactic was to deploy as many mages as possible to take down the heavy tanks of the other houses. He felt thought as she was mostly focused on the blue lions, as they had both Dedue and Dimitri. 

They also had the professor... he deeply hoped that she would decide on taking on the deers first. Maybe that would weaken them... 

He looked over to the Golden Deer's side, they had Claude, Hilda, Lorenz, Marianne and Ignatz. 

Would that do anything to Dedue? He had heard rumors about the Duscur man, no one except the professor had been able to put him down like that in a fight. 

Well whatever would happen next would depend on what the Blue Lion's strategy would be. 

***** 

She had already discussed her strategy with the Blue Lions. Knowing Claude, he must have been preparing a trap.

So her and Dimitri had decided to make a risky move and attack both houses simultaneously. 

After the fight, she would have tea with Ferdinand. Even if it was his birthday, she would not have her blue lions go easy on him. 

"As we planned, we will take out all the Frontliners first, before taking on the rest." She was not worried, and it would all be good training for her students. 

"I am a bit worried, but I will do my best professor." Mercedes had very good resistance to magic attacks, and her healings were essential. 

"This should barely be a challenge for me" Felix was very reliable, he was very flexible as a fighter and could fight well against anyone. 

"Alright everyone, we should start anytime now. Be ready." She held her sword tightly, she wanted to take him down herself. 

***** 

Dorothea was the first to start advancing, he wanted to follow her but Hubert put a hand on his shoulder to stop him "Do not be a bother for Lady Edelgard." 

The man was staring at him, but he paid him no attention. He heard Dorothea shout from a distance "You won't impress anyone if you get singled out Ferdie!". 

He started open eyed at her, he wasn't trying to impress anyone, he was just proving himself. Hmph, her and Hubert are only ever trying but to destabilize him so Edelgard can outshine him. 

That was not happening. "I'll just stay here, don't get injured for no reasons." Linhardt sounded tired, had he not slept the night prior to this fight? He hoped that Manuella could handle most of the healing since Linhardt was unreliable. 

It was enough thinking. He had to stay focused or else he'd be taken out. 

*****

"No need for your pitiful strategies, Claude! I will take care of them." Lorenz proudly said. 

"B-But I'm not ready-" Ignatz seemed less confident than Lorenz, that was for sure...

She couldn't see Claude or Hilda, they would be hiding somewhere, she thought. 

"Alright! Dedue cover up for Dimitri, I will take care of their archer." They both nodded and did as she said. 

Any confidence Ignatz had was shattered when he saw her approaching. And he wasn't wrong, he was barley a threat as she took him down swiftly. He retreated because of the hard hit he took to the shoulder. 

Dedue blocked Lorenz's upcoming attack before Dimitri finished him off. 

She turned to see Dorothea approaching Mercedes, probably taking her for an easy prey. She fired at her a thunder smell which she took with little damage. 

Mercedes missed her hit on Dorothea with her bow. They had to work more on this as she did have talent there, however it did not matter now as Dorothea was taken aback when Felix hit her in her back. 

"Ah! I'm sorry but I'm at my limit". He sure didn't go easy on her... "Dorothea!" She heard Ferdinand call for her. 

"Alright, now we take on everyone left." 

*****

Dorothea had retreated, it seemed as Edelgard's pathetic stratagem was backfiring as most of their fighters had little to no defense.

He frowned at her, but she just shrugged it off. 

"She can't be serious!" He heard her gasp. "She can't just take on both the golden dear and us. Well either way this is our chance!"

He finally saw Claude and Hilda come out of the forest, they must have been preparing an ambush, but that would not work anymore. 

"Lorenz ruined everything! I'm gonna have to work because of him!" He heard Hilda whine, she was the Golden Dear equivalent of Linhardt. 

"Alright, I shall stop their advancement!" He was set on taking some of the blue lions down. He began running forward, lance held tightly in his arm to Mercedes. If he took their healer, they couldn't last long against them. 

"Not on my watch!" His hit was deflected by Dedue. "Thank you so much, Dedu-".

Before he could steady himself again he saw Hubert firing his Miasma at Dedue, "You left yourself wide open!". 

As Dimitri and the professor were both engaging with Claude and Hilda, he took this chance to finish him off. 

He couldn't believe it, he had taken down Dedue! Well Hubert had... but he couldn't have done anything without Ferdinand von Aegir distracting him! 

He turned his attention back at Mercedes, the latter was defenseless to him, he did feel somewhat bad for fighting her... but she needed to go down.

Hubert shrugged in pain as he had been struck by Felix. It seemed as The three of them had managed to finish the deers off. 

"Professor, Linhardt, we must assist Ferdinand!" Edlegard started advancing with the other two. 

***** 

Only four people were left. Felix should be able to take care of the mages easily, while Dimitri would fight Edelgard with Mercedes giving her support. 

She would defeat Ferdinand personally. 

He is the one who started advancing towards her, he was still very flimsy and predictable in his movements. 

He charged towards her and as she was going to use her usual tactic to tripe him, he actually jumped and dodged it and hit her with blunt end of his lance to the side. 

"Great, Ferdinand!" She really meant it, he had progressed "but not enough..." she said as she kicked him in the stomach and ended him with a hit to the shoulder. 

Dimitri and Felix managed to overwhelme the others. It was a crushing victory for her house! 

***** 

  
Edelgard was hard to address at the moment, their loss had affected the morale of some of them. Himself included if he was honest... Except Linhardt, Linhardt didn't care at all. 

"Well that was a waste of time, I'll go to sleep now" He didn't feel like even arguing right now. 

The blue lions on the other hand... they were all at their top. 

"Professor! I was thinking that we could all share a meal together to celebrate the victory, what do you think?" Dimitri said, excitement rushing through him. 

Oh well, she was probably going to ditch the tea with him to have a meal with them. Not like he cared much anyway... it was just like any other day, her being thoughtful enough to offer him flowers was enough for him.

He smiled slightly. Yes she was the only one to remember. None of the Black Eagles were really the type to remember such things, maybe Dorothea, but she wouldn't care enough about him to do. 

"I would love to Dimitri." Ah, well might as well go out for a horse ride, that would fill his mind for now. "But I have something planned today, could that wait for later tonight?" 

W-was she talking about having tea with him? He rushed out of the hall. He must be presentable, he head out to shower and change immediately. 

***** 

"Ah! Ferdinand there you are!" He did his best to look good. They were having tea outside, it would be inappropriate to have tea in one of their rooms.

She was holding a pretty banal tea set, it was simply white, and didn't seem very high quality. 

What was more interesting was her outfit choice. She was out of her usual outfit that she wears for teaching. Her outfit was a black shirt with tight, _very tight_ leggings and a short. 

He immediately focused on something else as he felt his face start to burn. He looked at her face, the more he stared at those blue eyes the more he was drawn to her. It seems that isn't working either. 

They sat down as she started serving them the tea. As promised, she had gotten his favorite blend, the southern fruit blend. 

He felt his heart fluter, how considerate of her. "Congratulations on your victory today, professor. You were truly outstanding." 

He looked down at his cup, he was disappointed by his performance. All he managed to do was take down a crippled Dedue. 

"I'm really proud of my students." Yes, her students. What would it be like if she had thought his class instead? "And proud of you too, Ferdinand." 

"I'm honored, professor." He felt his face fall, it wasn't like him to not have his face high in pride. "But I do not deserve such praise, I have contributed nothing to this fight." 

"Is that what you think? I must say you hit me pretty hard" He could see a small turn of her lips, is that a smile? 

"You anticipated my attack, you have a lot of potential I must say." She sipped a small amount of tea, for a mercenary, she did have good manners. 

"Thank you so much professor, and I-" he stopped a bit, not knowing how to express what he wanted to say. "I am extremely happy that you took the time to invite me for tea on my birthday." 

She looked a bit surprised, for her anyways. "Of course Ferdinand, why wouldn't I?" He didn't know if he would regret mentioning it, but he decided to anyways. 

"Well I had overheard that your students were planning to celebrate your victory today. And I must admit... I believed that you pick celebrating with them instead of coming to have tea with me."

He felt embarrassed to say such a thing, after all, she wasn't obliged to be here with him now, she could've easily went with her blue lions. 

"Oh! Don't worry about them, we didn't cancel the celebration, we'll just do it later." She put her hand on her cheek, as if thinking about something. "Will you come with me when we're done, I want to show you something." 

What could she want to show him? It was almost night time, but oh well, it is not like they had class tomorrow, so why not? 

***** 

When they finished their tea, she took his hand in hers. He felt his face blush at the touch of her skin. She was taking him towards the dinning hall. 

Did she want to eat with him? Well he hadnt eaten much since the fight, except the small cakes and tea she had gotten.

As they arrived there, the door was closed. She knocked three times before he heard Mercedes tell her to enter. 

Just as he entered, he was taken aback. "Happy birthday Ferdinand!" 

There was quite a lot of students, all of the blue lions were present, as well as Dorothea, Petra, Caspar and Linhardt from the black eagles. He also saw some Goldem Dears, Claude, Hilda and Raphael were here. 

"Who- why???" He didn't know what to say, had she taken him for tea so they could prepare this for him? He was still holding her hand, he didn't want to let it go.

"I hope you like it!" He saw Mercedes approach, "Yeah! Me and Mercie did our best in baking your cake." Though she looked down for a bit "Don't worry thought- Dedue and her did most of the cooking, I just helped them pass around the ingredients." She let got of his hand as she headed towards Dimitri to talk to him. He felt sad as he couldn't feel her warmth anymore, but focused on Mercedes and Anette instead.

He had heard rumors about Anette, quite the mess. "T-Thank you so much, you all seem to have done so much effort for me- you barely even know me." 

He looked as the large man approached Mercedes "And I'm sorry about trying to target you Mercedes-"

"It was nothing" she had a very warm smile, "-And Dedue, I must deeply apologize too!" The man simply shook his head, that was to be expected in a fight, after all. 

He was then approached by a lot of the blue lions, complimenting him about his fighting today and starting random talks. 

"That was the professor's idea" Dorothea said, winking at him. "I came to spend some time with Ingrid." She said as she left to sit next to the girl, who was filling her mouth up with food. 

"Yeah, well I got some sleep and couldn't refuse the professor's request." Sitting next to Caspar, the latter punching his chest as he had eaten too fast and nearly chocked, was Linhardt. "Maybe she'll even let me take a nap on her tights." 

"Linhardt!" Ferdinand was truly outraged by his comments "Ah fine, whatever Ferdinand. I'll leave that spot for you." 

Caspar was oblivious as he kept on eating, Ferdinand didn't know whether to feel flustered or angry- 

Linhardt smirked slightly at him before going back to his book. 

Whatever him and Dorothea meant when they keep mentioning the professor. Pathetic! As the noble heir of house Ageir, Ferdinand Von Aegir, would fall for a woman that easily! 

He didn't feel like responding to Linhardt thought, so he minded his own business and enjoyed the night with the professor and the rest of the students as much as possible. 

She did her best to make sure that he would feel as comfortable as possible, even inviting some of the black eagles.

Though he didn't see Edelgard or Hubert. Bernadetta was no surprise, she must be staying in her room. But those two must truly be salty about them celebrating his birthday after losing the fight. 

Either way he felt his motivation rise again, and for that, he was truly grateful to the professor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ferdinand's birthday was the same day as the stimulation, so I couldn't possibly skip it :'D


	4. Fierce Confidence

It had been a month since he had turned eighteen, he could still remember the night he had spent with all of his classmates and the professor.

When had he had he felt such a warm and welcoming atmosphere? He couldnt remember feeling this way back when he lived with his father before joining academy, and neither in the black eagles classroom.

It had felt drastically different, and he felt a similar way everytime he was with the professor. They had been spending more time training, and he made sure to attend all of her seminars.

This month, the Blue Lions were out on a mission to hunt for the bandits who had attacked the house leaders previously.

Their mission was more passive, he wondered why Lady Rhea had only given the professor such a mission. He had known the golden dear's mission from Lorenz, and yet again, it didn't seem on the scale of the one the blue lions were sent on.

Perhaps it was because Lady Rhea thought they were more capable than the other two houses, or was it simply that she put more trust in Byleth.

Either ways, that mission would require the students to kill. He shivered at that idea, as he got to know some of them. He could imagine how hard it would be for some people like Mercedes, Anette and Ashe to commit such a thing.

"Ferdie!" It was Dorothea, she was probably calling him to head out on their mission.

"Ah! The beautiful Dorothea, I will be there slightly, I simply need to take my hors-" he was cut out by her as she shrugged his compliment off.

"Always as flirty, I see" why did she have to take everything he said this way? He hadnt meant any offense to her.

"Dorothea, I have always felt like you treat me differently from othe-"

"Yeah I hate you." Well he knew she didn't like him, but hate is a strong word now, isnt it? "Oh I'm sorry, did I offend your nobelness?"

"Can I at least ask why?" He was going to find what was that she hated about him, and he was going to fix it. He couldn't stand it, what had he done wrong?

"Well take a guess, Ferdie." He really didn't know, did she just despise nobility? No, that answer was too simple.

"To put it simply, you're just like a bee," a bee? He didn't know what conclusion to pull from this comparison. "I'll let you think about it, now if you'll excuse me."

*****

They were heading back from their mission. They had completed it successfully, but the morale of her class was at an all time low.

For her, it was nothing new. For most of her students however, it was probably the first time they took a life.

She felt wrong about being unable to feel the same guilt her students felt. Was that from her lack of emotions or from simply being that used to it?

All she could do was make sure they had to experience it as little as possible. This mission was just the start, it would start getting harder from now on.

She looked back in the cart and saw Mercedes deep in her prayers, and next to her Anette who had her head down in her hands. Ashe seemed to still be under the shock as she hadnt heard him talk ever since the mission ended.

Dimitri, Dedue, Ingrid, Sylvain and Felix hadnt been very talkative either, but they took it the easiest in her class. She was even sure it wasn't Dimitri and Felix's first time killing, but they didn't seem to ever want to mention it.

*****

As they got back from their mission, he was tending to his horse and making sure she had everything she needed.

If anything he didn't like to leave this job to anyone else, he took care of his horse himself.

He loved her a lot, she had been his Mount for over 6 years now. A strong war horse breed that had excellent stamina and strength, nothing less fitting of a noble such as himself.

As he was taking care of her, he saw the blue lion's cavalier, Sylvain bring in two horses, the other one probably being Dimitri's.

"Greetings Sylvain! How was the mission?" Perhaps he should've been more concidert, but Sylvain was pretty good as hiding his emotions.

"Ah the mission? Great, great. I just..." he just paused before making sure to put the horses back in their stables. "Well let's just say I don't like to see pretty girls sad."

"My apologies, it was insensitive of me. I simply hope everyone is fine-" Was Byl- the professor fine? "How's the-"

"She's fine, it was not her first time." Yes, it was not her first time, he wondered how it felt to live as a mercenary, having to kill at such a young age. No wonder she was this strong, she had years of experience despite being this their age.

He felt like a spoiled person compared to her, or any of the commener students to say so. Was this in relation with Dorothea's riddle?

"Sylvain?"

"Hm?"

"Well I was wondering, did you ever think of switching classes?"

"What you plan to make me leave so you can become the cavalier of the blue lions?" Sylvain was laughing but Ferdinand felt extremely embarrassed.

"Just kidding, just kidding." He clapped him on his shoulder "Thought if you wanted to, you could always switch. Professor Byleth isn't very exigent and she's pretty chill."

"Chill?" He hasn't imagined her being that type of instructor, could they truly learn if she wasn't exigent?

But thinking about it, all the blue lions were hard workers, unlike their class or the golden dears.

Even the man infront of him, the famous philandrer of gareg mach, was extremely talented and hard working. He hated to admit it, but as of now he did pale figure compared to him.

The man seemed lazy on the outside, but he had crushed the other competitors, himself including, in the lance tournament this month.

How would it have gone if they had Dimitri participate instead? He shivered at the idea.

"Well you see that doesn't mean she's not strict sometimes. But she gives us a lot of freedom when it comes to learning."

Manuella was pretty forward when it came to learning, she had instructed him to work on his riding and lance skills. Which he honestly didn't mind since this was his objectives from the start.

"But like Anette really wanted to learn axe and brawling, so now she's studying that next to magic." He had trouble imaging the small girl having strength in those fields, but when he thought about it, Edelgard was quite small, but she wore heavy armor and fought with axes mainly. 

He should probably never mention the "Edelgard is small" part infront of Hubert.

Still, he never imagined Anette as anything but a mage.

"Felix and me are also getting into reason magic, guess I'll be shooting for the dark paladin class. That will take some time thought."

Manuela hadn't given them that much options, to his distaste. He remembered Dorothea wanted to train with the sword in addition to her magic, but Manuela shrugged it off saying it was a bit too early.

Would HE make a good dark paladin? He never admitted it to anyone, but he was never really good at magic.

*****

"Yes, this should absolutely prove my superiority to Edelgard!" 

"Always figuring new ways to bother Lady Edelgard, am I right Ferdinand?" 

"Hubert! You should introduce yourself next time." He was startled. He hadnt noticed anyone's presence, yet Hubert had managed to sneak through his implacable reflexes. 

How lucky for him that his focus was on something else. 

"Perhaps you would have noticed if your mind wasn't somewhere else, plotting."

Plotting?! It was just a very important project.

"She is not your rival, Ferdinand. She is your superior. A noble like you should know to stay in his place." 

Humph, like he would ever be a noble like him.

" 'Edelgard did this', 'Edelgard went there'. Nothing else comes out of your mouth. You never think of yourself." 

He acted as her dog, did he even have personal opinions? 

"All your talk is futile. Lady Edelgard is an imperial princess. You're just the puny son of a Duc." 

"Hmph, if you're too tired to forge your own opinion, you will never be able to serve her well."

"Do the torrents of garbage that come out of your mouth ever stop? The way you only look at the surface of things shows your naivity." 

"That's enough, Hubert. Out of my sight."

"Sadly, you will never know how to think of anyone other than your little person. I've heard enough, I will take my leave." 

What did he mean "you will never know how to think of anyone other than your little person"? He had everyone in mind, the common folks were always his priority. 

Did he mean that on a more personal scale? Why should he give anyone else such attention in his personal life? 

He wondered what kind of relationship Edelgard and Hubert had. They were so close, they had full trust in each other.

Would he ever have such a relationship? 

*****

It was the next day, and she was packing all her documents as she had just finished giving class. When suddenly-

"Profesor! Could I solicit you for a moment?" That was odd, it had been a while since they had talked, she had gotten busy with this month's mission. 

She had seen him at training and during seminars, but they hadn't, for say, had an actual talk.

"Tell me, what is your opinion on Edelgard? You seem to think highly of her." Did she? She never really payed attention to his house leader. Especially since the latter tried her best to ignore her ever since she picked the blue lions to teach.

"She could still make some progress." Why did her opinion of her even matter?

"R-Really? This surprises me, you must be very exigent of your students!" Was she? She was new to all of this, but her students did win against the other two classes, but maybe they were simply more talented. She couldnt really tell which one it was.

"So... what do you think of me? You must think that I am at LEAST as capable."

"Well-", before she even continued he interrupted her.

"Speak your mind, professor! No need to mention the noble house I heil from, I wish for your honest thoughts only!"

"Ehm, about equal I would say-" she didn't know much about Edelgard, she had only seen her fight at two occasions. She could tell, however, that she was stronger than average.

His face changed drastically, was he surprised? "S-Same level? Her and I?"

"Is that a problem..?" Was it a bad comparison? She could compete with most students, she was not comparing him to a weak person.

"I... I was only being modest..."

That modesty didn't last long.

"Being completely honest, I would say I greatly surpass her! But you do not seem to share this opinion. Hmm..."

He was back to his confident face, she didnt quite know what to tell him. She surely didn't want to hurt him, but she didn't want to lie either...

"You leave me no choice! I must prove you my talent!"

"Ferdinand... that won't be necessary-"

Now he seemed angry...

"Not necessary?! Are you looking down on my abilities?"

Did she hurt his "honor"? She had heard most nobles had plenty of it.

"You believe I will let this stain my honor!" Yep she was right... "Never in my life! Come with me, professor!"

"..."

What had she gotten herself into?

*****

Ferdinand had dragged her all the way out of the monastery, it was on the same way as Zanado. But they didn't go that deep.

_"We should actually go there someday!"_

She could hear Sothis in her head, but she had something else to focus on.

"Let us start with the combat arts. Edelgard's abilities shy next to mine. It came to my knowledge that a while ago, Edelgard would have defeated a demonic beast with no assistance."

She didn't like where this was going...

"And since my abilities are superior, I would need only half the time that she took!"

He was going to fight a demonic beast...

"Witness my abilities, professor!"

Well she needed to keep an eye on him to make sure he didn't get himself killed.

*****

He was going to prove himself by fighting a demonic beast... it shouldn't be that hard, Edelgard did it, after all.

He looked at her as they kept advancing in this forest.

Surely, he didn't know how he had dragged her in all of this. Or why.

She must hold her students in very high estime. But she should consider him above Edelgard, at the very least.

He hadn't thought things through, he had expected her to tell him how much better he was than Edelgard. Hearing her say they were somewhat "equal" had shocked him.

He couldn't read her thoughts, she seemed quite neutral. Was she mad that he had dragged her?

He had gotten so distracted that he jumped from fear the moment he heard the sound of what he was looking for.

It was two demonic beasts. TWO.

Her reflexes had reacted way faster than him. Before he could say anything, she was standing before him in a defensive stance.

"Ferdinand! Get back." He saw her lock those beasts in. She was going to attack them.

"W-Wait! I will take care of them!" Was he confident about this? No... YES, he was Ferdinand Von Aegir. Nothing he couldn't handle...

She looked at him, she seemed to be thinking about it. She got back and put her sword back. Oh she is not going to stop him...

He had taken with him an iron lance with him. He took it out and started to engage with the two beasts.

He was hoping his sheer will would help him win this fight... but it seemed that wasn't enough.

As he was holding one of the beasts claws with his lance, the other one approached him. He was overwhelmed.

He was able to dodge one of its swings, but the other one, even though it has only grazed him, injured him.

"It's futile! It's done for me!" As confident he had came, he lost it all right when he saw his injury.

Perhaps if he had to fight only a single one, he wouldn't be in this situation. Nothing he could change now.

"Ferdinand!" He saw her silhouette as she pushed him back and fought the two beasts.

She was dancing around them with her sword, she was going to end this quickly.

He held his wound, he had gotten his injury on his left shoulder as he hadn't missed one of the hits.

He saw it then. She killed the beast by slashing it's neck. Her eyes were empty of any emotions as she did so, he hadn't seen such focus before.

He was bleeding as the world around him started to go out of focus. It was all blank afterwards.

*****

He woke up to a warm feeling traveling through his body, as he opened his eyes slowly he saw her face just above his.

She was close, very close.

"Ferdinand... I'm glad you woke up." She seemed to be casting a healing spell on him. Her hands on his shoulder.

He had no idea she knew how to heal, was there anything she couldn't do?

Her healing had a different feel to it, he never felt this comfortable with anyone else. Linhardt, Manuella or Dorothea, this feeling was very much foreign to him.

"Professor..." He was surprised when she took her hands off her shoulder and hushed him, she then took one of her hands and started caressing his hair.

"You had me worried... I'm so sorry, Ferdinand." He never took his eyes off of her face, he must have worried her.

He had never seen her show emotions like this before. He couldn't help, he smiled at that simple thought.

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have let you do this." Her face showed so much sadness, it wasn't her fault, it was his mistake.

"Please professor... I'm the only one to blame." He tried to straighten himself. He realized that his head was resting on her tights.

"Ferdinand! Stay still." She took him in a small embrace. His head was now resting on the crook of her neck.

He prayed the goddess that she wohld not notice his flush. He longed for her warmth, if he could compare this to anything in his life, it would be his mother's warmth.

It was a warmth he hadn't felt for a long time. He had made sure to never get attached to any woman, he knew someday he would have to marry for political reasons.

But for now, at least, he didn't think of any of that. He was surprised when she got up and pulled him in her arms.

He looked back a second, he saw the two beasts' corpses laying back. Very much dead.

She was carrying him like a child. If he was red because of her touch before, now it was of embarrassment.

"Pro-professor! I can walk back on my own!" She didn't respond to him, as she started walking back to the monastery.

"I'll let you down where no one will see us when we get closer." She smiled slightly at him. SMILED.

"Now let's go back, Ferdinand."


	5. The Values Of a True Noble

"You two have done WHAT?" 

He was in utter shock as he learned what his classmates had done. He could feel the tension with Edelgard and Hubert. 

They were furious. 

"Yeah, so what?" Linhardt really knew how to add fuel to a fire... and Caspar, well Caspar probably didn't even think things through. 

"You can't just leave the black eagles like that!" As much as he disagreed with Edelgard, their class was the pride of the Empire. Two sons of major noble families leaving their class was simply bad. 

He turned around and saw a furious Edelgard talking a few meters away with Hubert. She could disagree, but she couldn't stop them if they have already talked with the other classe's teacher. 

"I'm not going to apologize, Ferdinand. Staying with Edelgard is going to compromise my research." Of course, it was all because of her pathetic leadership. 

"Caspar..." The latter seemed a bit more uncomfortable about leaving his classmates. He was very close with Linhardt, he probably didn't want to be left with them alone.

"Wellllll, I'm not switching for Linhardt. I was going to for a while and just him leaving pushed me to do it sooner..." He believed that. Ever since he trained with Byleth, he had that glow in his eyes every time he saw her fight. 

"Also Ashe..." 

What did he say? It was barely above a whisper, whatever. 

"You barely even have a reason to leave, Linhardt! Reconsider." Now he caught the young man giving him a glare.

"You, Ferdinand, are probably the last person I want to study with. After Edelgard. And Hubert." Blasphemy! He has been nothing but a great classmate, always looking after them. He even keeps offering him training sessions. 

"Edelgard, Hubert and you, are nagging pests." They are WHAT? He didn't know what offended him more. Was it that he called him a pest, or the fact that he was grouped with both Edelgard and Hubert? Both seemed extremely unpleasant to him. 

"As a noble, Linhardt-" He then heard the heaviest sigh ever, when he turned his head he saw Dorothea rolling her eyes. 

"I have no problems with Edie or Hubie, but he's not wrong about you." Bee. He still has to figure that out. 

Clearly, they were not going to change their minds. Whatever, he would simply have to carry the class on his own two shoulders. 

Deep down, he was jealous. He envied them leaving to join Byleth's class, he shouldn't, and he can't. He is the son of the prime minister of the empire, he can not leave because he... he has a certain LIKING for the other classe's professor. 

"Enough, everyone." Manuela... she was an incredible white mage. Linhardt would maybe have better focus on his healings with her... but then he- he remembered. 

The forest, the beasts, and her... She did not look like it, but he was sure about her talent in faith. Maybe Linhardt IS better off there. 

He touched his shoulder. That day... he can never forget her warmth, the warmth he felt when he woke up. 

That warmth, however, he would probably never feel again. 

***** 

"This month, our mission is to keep guard during the ceremony." 

Her Blue Lions had welcomed two new members.

Linhardt, the sleepy mage, was actually pretty much awake right now. She'd have to make sure he studies his notes, while not overwhelming him... He always tried to get closer to her, he found her, using his own words "Neither a noble or a commoner, a very interesting person." 

Caspar seemed to be getting VERY well with Ashe, and he already had a habit of training with Felix and her everyday. 

She was glad Caspar was in her class, she hadn't seen Ashe smile since their mission last month. 

They... No, SHE killed his father. She wanted to try and talk him out of that rebellion. 

But when she saw him confront Ashe... When she saw that he was ready to kill his own son. She couldn't stop. 

She killed him in front of his own eyes. Would he ever forgive her? Did he secretly hate her? She didn't know, and she didn't want to ask. 

When they had approached her during the weekend, and seemed set on joining her class. Really, she had no reason to say no. 

Additionally, Manuela assured her that she didnt mind, she has been teaching for a few years. It was not the first time someone leaves her class. And honestly, the less work for her, the more time she gets for getting drunk. 

Edelgard and Hubert however... ouch. The look they gave her as she was heading to the training grounds with her students was... interesting. 

It was a bad image for Edelgard's class, she wondered if Linhardt and Caspar's fathers would disagree to them switching.

After all, getting to study with the future emperor is nothing insignificant. Thinking about it... they apparently enjoyed her so much that they would give up such an opportunity. 

All she had to do now was put them to work, they seemed to both have a lot of potentiel.

Someone else came to mind... Ferdinand. Ever since they came back from their 'adventure', he seemed to do his best to initiate conversations. She enjoyed his company, more than most people, to her surprise...

She loved most students, but he felt 'different'... 

Yet, something made her believe that he didn't enjoy her company as much as she thought he did... 

Especially after last month's mission. 

*****

"Manuela was neutral, really. Don't worry professor, if anything you will simply have to worry about Hubert slipping poison in your tea." Thank you, this is very reassuring, Linhardt.

"Yeahhhh I only got weird glares from Edelgard. But Ferdinand thoughhh!" Caspar didn't know how to use his inside voice, but- wait, what did he say? 

"Ferdinand?" Was he that much against them joining...? 

"Yeah! He was like 'This is a disgrace to the empire! We must have pride in the Black Eagles' class!'." 

She didn't want to show her sudden sadness. She understood, he was a proud patriot, he would put that pride above anything else. And he probably favored being with the future emperor. After all, he would have to work closely with her when he graduates. Having her on her good side would be greatly advantageous, as the future prime Minister.

 _"Don't get attached"_ Sothis snapped, as she had felt Byleth's head fill with thoughts. 

_"You know, these kids, they're all going to leave. You'll be lucky if you see them ever again."_

Well okay, she didn't have to be this upright about it. She knew that, no need to rub it in. 

_"ESPECIALLY the little noble kids, they probably won't even look at you once they graduate."_

Really now? She can't imagine people like Dimitri being like this. Even though he was, after all, the crowned prince of Faerghus.

_"Naive."_

Why was she even listening to Sothis right now? 

_"You know how he feels, that ginger boy, grow up. He probably looks down on you."_

The less she sees him anyway, the better.

*****

It was the night of the ceremony, the black eagles had been assigned to watch and stand guard, as the other houses were told to. Even the blue lions... 

They were stationed in a different spot, a less 'risky' spot. It was outside the church, around the hallway. 

Why did Lady Rhea insist on putting the professor and her class at risk? If anything were to happen it would happen where the professor was. 

Is that was she was talking about? He was starting to see patterns forming...

Why is he wasting his time here? What is even the point of standing here? He must find a way to sneak out of his post. 

The main issue here were Edelgard and Hubert. Manuela didn't seem 100% sober... and the other members wouldn't think anything of it. 

What would Linhardt usually say? "Its easier to apologize than to ask"? 

"Hey Ferdie." Dorothea, what did she find wrong with him now? 

"You want to leave don't you?" When had she noticed? He hadn't even started escaping this hall. 

"No need to lie, I hate you, but the professor could probably use some help if something were to happen. I'll help you. I noticed too, if anything happens, it will be there. Also Linhardt has a tendency to say-" 

"THANK- I mean thank you, Dorothea." No need to blow up their escape operation before it even starts. Perhaps they could turn around the hallway and get out of everyone's sight before-

"Professor Manuelaaa" Well it seemed Dorothea has her own plan... his doubts from before had been answered, the two were definitely somewhat related. She could probably put this to work right now. 

"Well, Ferdie and me were thinking of patrolling the bridge to the church for a bit" Dorothea gave her that wink, she had a way of... 'seducing' everyone. As long as they could go, he didn't care. 

"Ohhh I see what you two are up to." Manuela smirked at Dorothea, then at Ferdinand. "I'm not going to ruin your fun, in addition... I don't see anything happening over here tonight." 

What did she- "Thanks, Manuela. We will, hopefully." Pretty odd way to address her professor... then again, he once almost called Byleth by her name... 

Huh, how long has it been since she even looked at him? It has almost been a month... 

As they started moving, he didn't even look back at Edelgard and Hubert. Really, he couldn't get himself to care right now. 

"You better not get any idea!" Idea of wha- oh she meant what Manuela was saying now, wasn't it? "I'm doing this for the professor, not for you." 

_The professor probably doesn't want to see me right now, or ever, Dorothea._

She looked in front of her as they began walking towards the church. Her look was stern and serious. 

"I still do not know why you hate me, but I promise I will figure it out and get better." 

Her lips slightly turned to form a smile, "We will see about that, Ferdie." 

If there was one thing to do, it was to get better, maybe then, she would forgive him.

*****

"Professor, would you like to have tea with me?" 

It was the day after their mission to stop Lonato's rebellion. If it had been anyone other than Ferdinand, she would have probably have found an excuse to go right to her bedroom and lock herself up for the day like Bernadetta would. 

She still couldn't face Ashe, she couldn't face anyone from her class right now. 

She didn't expect things to turn like this. Last month was the first time they had to... kill. They were devastated about killing bandits, so this... this was something else.

Killing civilians was an entirely different thing. 

When she heard Rhea state that they would fight Lonato, her heart dropped. She knew he was Ashe's adoptive father, he had talked to her about him before. 

She argued, but she did not have a say in what happened. 

"Enough, professor! These are your orders." 

It was the first time Rhea yelled at her, even Seteth looked down in guilt. He probably agreed with her not wanting to take Ashe, but he had no say in Rhea's decision. 

It angered her. If she didn't trust her at first, now she felt hate towards her, what is she trying to prove? 

_"Please go and have some tea with the ginger boy so I can sleep peacefully."_

Apparently Sothis has trouble sleeping when her mind is too active, either way, why not? 

*****

He loved inviting the professor over for tea, it was always lovely having her around to talk.

It put him... at ease.

Today was different, and he most likely knew why. She looked tired and... sad? Which is probably a lot of emotions for someone like her.

After all, him, Ferdinand von Aegir, was known for his incredible comforting skills. What could go wrong?

For this occasion, he was serving tea with one of his most expensive sets. The fancier the set, the better the atmosphere, or so he though.

"Professor, please pick your favorite tea!" He didn't believe she had a favorite tea. For soemone who claimed to enjoy sampling teas, she wasn't picky and probably didn't care about what was served. 

"Mint tea..." Quite a cheap tea blend, did he even have any of it? Well, as he looked inside his box, he ended up finding some.

"Ah professor! Is this one your favorite? If it is, then I'll make sure to have plenty of it on hand always!" Goddess... I hope it's not her favorite...

"No... it is Ashe's favorite." As he served her the brewed tea, he saw her look at the cup sadly. 

Ashe, it was the young archer from the blue lions, he had gotten acquainted with him, as he did with most of her class at this point. 

"Huh... and what about Ashe?" He looked at the side, he didn't want to face her directly. Why did she think of Ashe now? She was with him at the moment... 

What is this feeling? Jealousy...? No it can't be. He has no reasons to be jealous. 

"I killed his father." 

"Excuse me...?" Whatever he was thinking, he was now open eyed looking at the professor in front of him. 

"Lonato..." She never took her eyes off the cup. Did that mean that Lonato was... Ashe's father? He knew the boy, but he had never asked about his family, but he would've sworn that the boy was a commoner. 

"I- I had to!" She cupped her face in her hands. "He would've killed him if I hadn't!" 

He was outraged. Not only did he put the lives of his people in danger, but he was ready to kill his own son to further his own agenda.

"He is a shame for nobility!" He meant it, he definitely didn't want to be put in the same box as people like him-

"Really now, Ferdinand?!" She had slammed her fists on the table. Which had frightened him for a second, really he almost felt out of his chair...

"People died, and ALL you care about was that!"

"That is not what I said! Simply put that people with status must act in a certain matter!" Did she not realize all of the responsibilities that came with the title of nobility? 

"No Ferdinand, he fought for what he believed in, it didn't need to end like that. The church could have taken an other path, but no! They knew this would happen!" 

He thanked the goddess no one was around at that moment, as he was practically shushing at her so she would lower her voice. Did she not know that she can't simply talk about the church like this? What if she got called an heretic? 

One of the most important things as a noble, is to maintain good relationships with the church. Even though the latter had thin relationships as of now with the Empire...

"Professor! I get you're feeling guilt about this, but the church was simply maintaining order. And he was just a minor noble-" 

"Hmph, well then excuse me, your noblness." She could cut steel with the glare she threw at him. Was she mocking him?

"All I'm saying is, as nobles, we have responsibilities. You can't just throw your people's lives at meaningless causes! This is not playing mercenary, professor. These people, were not raised like you, they have lives and-" 

"Ferdinand, all I can say is, I hope you'll think that way when the church throws you and your classmates to die on the battlefield. Now, if you will excuse me." 

She got up and left, not even looking back at him. He sat down alone for a while, the tea cold. Had he used bad wording? Or perhaps... they had different values?

She must have seen a lot... and as he started heading back to his room. He sank in his bed, could he fix what he had just done?

_You can't get attached, Ferdinand._


	6. White Knight

"The ceremony is about to begin. However, we still don't know our enemies' true motives..." 

Her eyes were kept wide open the entire time. Not for Rhea, but for her students.

Each and every month Rhea would put her students and her in situations that could cause one of their deaths. 

At moments like that she was truly grateful for the power that Sothis lent her. Would she ever have to witness one of their deaths? 

She remembered that the target of the enemy was most likely the holy mausoleum. The assassination seemed like a simple distraction, as all her students agreed.

Her cubs had spent most of the month looking around for clues, she also had contributed to that research. 

And for some reasons, as if he was nagging her or something, she would always end up passing by Ferdinand. 

They didn't talk, she also avoided all eye contact with him, although she could feel his eyes land upon her. 

Although one thing that lifted her mood today was the fact that she discovered that Seteth did care, to some extent as told by Flayn, at least. 

As found by their little investigation, they would inspect some suspicious places. She was absolutely against the idea of splitting up, so they would all stay together. 

The first floor, the white tower, where they found nothing and then, the underground, to check the holy mausoleum. 

"It is time" She was reminded by Dedue that they had to act now to make sure everything was in check. If anything happened Rhea would likely blame it on her students and her. 

"Oh actually! In case we're hungry I brought some snacks!" 

She saw Felix shake his head in exasperation, thought she doubted they would eat those snacks since Anette is the one who cooked them. 

*****

"Ferdie! You don't want Seteth or someone else to see us here or we'll be in trouble." 

They had just crossed the bridge to the other side, it was surprisingly very lightly garded. 

If they were caught over here, this would surely taint his perfect record of no infractions. But he was willing to risk that today, for her.

"Yes, Dorothea. In fact-" just as he started talking he saw two figures walking towards the gate where they stood. 

Dorothea and him were fast enough to react that they hid behind a large pillar. 

It was in fact Seteth, with the other young woman- Flayn, was it? If he remembered right the two of them were siblings.

"Brother, is it truly okay to let the professor investigate the white tower and the holy mausoleum?" Her voice sounded honest, she was actually worried for the professor.

"I am actually unsure about leaving her alone, perhaps we could check on her, but only for a moment, then we'll have to go back to the ceremony."

"Thank you so much, brother! I believe that the professor must be now done with the tower, if everything went fine. All that's left is the mausoleum." 

Now he knew exactly where to find her, at least. Thought it would be wise to wait for Seteth to leave, if everything is fine, he would leave too- 

"Pst Ferdie, we should go around, by going through the west wing we can get there without Seteth seeing us. It'll take a bit longer but that will give Seteth time to see the professor and then leave."

"Ye-Yes, very wise Dorothea!" Well she beat him to it, but that was the best decision. 

***** 

As they decended down into the undergrounds, she observed all around them. It was lit with candles all around, and she saw weird symbols drawn on the grounds.

"I really don't like it in here..." Anette and Ashe were keeping some distance behind with Mercedes. 

"We can't see this place everyday, how beautiful." Mercedes was actually really fascinated, as well as Sylvain, surprisingly. 

"Yes who knows what these symbols could be! I could come back later alone." Oh yes, she wasn't yet used to her new students. Really it is hard thought to forget someone like Linhardt.

Dedue was walking infront with Dimitri, she was just behind them when Dedue suddenly stopped everyone and stepped in front of Dimitri. 

"Professor!" She could already tell exactly what was happening from his reaction. She rushed in front of them to evaluate the situation. 

In front, she saw a knight riding on a horse, he had a helmet on so she couldn't tell who he was. All she could tell for sure is that he oozed bloodlust. 

"No one get close to him!" She also spotted enemies on both sides, they would have to split up to not get overwhelmed.

She hated to split with her students, what if something were to happen to one of them.

_"I'll keep an eye on everyone, focus on the fight."_

Sothis was helpful in more than one way when she was awake. Really how did Manuella and Hanneman do with no help? 

"DONT WORRY GUYS I GOT YOU!!" Oh well if someone didn't notice their presence, now everyone did because of Caspar. 

"Alright, no time to loose! We're splitting up!" 

On the left side she sent Dimitri, Dedue, Sylvain, Ingrid and Mercedes, while on the right side went Felix, Ashe, Anette, Caspar and Linhardt. 

_"Are you going to take on that weird knight by yourself?!"_

Well, for now he was not moving, but who knows if he might want to go after her students.

Either way, they also had to worry about the mage that was opening up the coffin in the back of the room. 

*****

"Hey, would you move it a bit quicker?!" 

He was looking around him as they decended into the monastery's undergrounds, the holy mausoleum.

It was the first time he ever got to be in here, usually this is an off limit place that only church members can go into. 

"Hey what is that noise?" 

It was the noise of weapons clashing against each other, his gut feeling was indeed right. 

Just as he was watching, he felt himself shiver at the sight of a knight clayed in a black armor that was sparring against the professor. 

For the first time, he couldn't control his impulses and rushed to her help.

"W-Wait Ferdie!" Dorothea tried to hold him but he didn't want to stay still. He had to help her. 

He got closer. That knight was extremely imposing, he wondered if he even stood a chance. 

With a single swing of his lance, the knight threw him back to where Dorothea was standing. He had been utterly useless to Byleth.

He then heard a shriek... from the knight. At that moment, Byleth gave him a soft smile, before focusing back on the knight. 

"Professor! We are done over here!" Mercedes was rushing to get closer to assit with healing the professor if so needed. 

"..." It seemed the professor had gotten a hit on him, yet he seemed puzzled. "We will meet again." 

"I think you're fine, be more careful." Dorothea was a bit rough with him, but in a nice way, really. 

With that he saw purple light flash and he was gone. One less person to worry about, at least. 

*****

She looked back at the ginger haired boy on the ground, he hadn't done much but he did give her an opening where the knight got slightly distracted. 

With that she inflicted a hit with her sword on his right side. She knew he felt it when he let out a shriek. 

He spent no time retreating after that hit, and Mercedes came to heal her. 

She shook her head and pointed at Ferdinand. She was fine. And she had to finish off one last person. 

"Its- its too late" the mage said as he started opening the coffin. Were they really too late? 

She ran forward to stop him, when she saw him pull out some sort of... sword? It reminded her of Catherine's sword. What was a weapon like this doing here? Wasn't it supposed to be Seiros's remaining that rested here? 

The least she could do now was take that sword back before he retreats. 

As she approached him, he started panicking and cast a fire spell right at her. 

"Watch out!" She was surprised as Ferdinand pushed her and threw his lance at the mage. 

*****

The lance he threw missed the mage by a few centimeters, but that's when he saw a flash... a thorn spell? 

"You idiot!" Dorothea was the caster, and this time the attack did hit the mage right in his right arm.

At that moment the sword flew out and the professor missed no time in catching it and slashing the flame spell. 

What... what is this sword? Was it... No it couldn't be, but it was glowing at the professor's touch... 

In that moment the mage set up a barrier to protect himself, yet it stood no chance to the sword Byleth was wielding.

And with a final hit, it was all done. The mage had fallen to her. 

It was such a sight to see. It was the first time he ever saw such a weapon in action, but he was almost sure that it was...

No it couldn't be, that would mean that the professor had a...

"Fe-Ferdinand! Y-You're fine right?"

He hadn't noticed but he was sitting on the ground. He did feel a bit week, but he didn't think he was injured. She seemed very worried about him, it is true that he had been reckless. But her expression showed true worry and fear.

"Hmm, I'll go help with healing the others." As she said that she gave him a smile and left with Mercedes. 

She put the sword on the ground and sat next to him. Her stare couldn't leave the ground, as if in shame.

"P-Professor, are you injured?" 

She shook her head no, then she looked at him with the saddest look he had ever seen her do.

"Please... Do not ever do that again." That's when she took one of his hands in-between the two of hers, she was slightly shaking.

"I- I'm sorry, professor. I just... I just wanted you to forgive me." Now he was the one who felt ashamed, he must have caused her a lot of trouble. 

"Please... just promise you won't do that again." 

"I- I will always try to protect you, but I will be more careful, that I can promise." 

She got up and held her hand out to him with a sad smile. "Come now, let's go see the others. I don't think I have it in me to stay mad at you." 

*****

"Professor! I will accompany you to give our report to Lady Rhea." 

With that she left with Dimitri, leaving all of her students to go get cleaned. She was very proud of them, they had managed to overwhelme all the enemies while getting out almost uninjured. 

None of her students have had a good glimpse of the sword, it had glowed at her touch. She wondered what it could be. It was light yet imposing, and packed a lot of strength. 

She had rapped it in a cloth, when asked by her students, she said it was a sword, and that she had to hand it back to Lady Rhea, just to be safe. 

_"That sword looks like that woman's with whom we fought with last month! But I feel like it is missing something."_

Perhaps did she mean that emptiness in the middle... she remembered that Catherine's had like a small sphere there. Thought she believed that that was missing from this one. 

_"Yes, that is what I believe as well. This sword has a weird feel to it... Hmmm well I can't remember anything anyways."_

"Professor, we all did what we could. Lady Rhea should have no complaints if we simply give her back this sword." 

Apparently the church was to execute anyone who was captured. Opposing the teachings of Seiros was an unforgivable act, or so they said. She knew this didn't sit well with Dimitri, as he seemed to be off.

As they opened the door, they were met with Rhea, Seteth and Catherine. As she approached to hand over the sword, Rhea shook her head. 

"Professor, were you able to use this sword?" 

She felt a bit confused at the question, but she she shook her head yes. At this answer she felt Rhea's face lit up. 

"Could I see you hold it?" 

Seteth's face changed completely as he saw her take it out of the cloth. Just as she touched it, it started glowing and pulsing intensely. 

Catherine and Dimitri must've known immediately what this sword was, because she surely didn't. 

"Impossible..." Catherine's face was a mix of surprise and Jealousy. She must admit that she never liked her, especially from their mission against Lonato's army. 

"Lady Rhea, if I may! Is this-" Dimitri was extremely excited at what this sword may be. 

"Yes, it is. This is the sword of the creator. The same one the king of liberation held. It is pur most precious artifact, a hero's relic." 

"Who?" 

At this everyone, including Dimitri, turned and looked at her as if she was an ignorant idiot. 

"Professor! Nemesis was the bearer of the crest of flames, he was given this very sword by the goddess herself." 

At Dimitri's words, Catherine's eyes rolled back into her head. They had never really fought, but they treated each other in a very "passive-agressive" way. 

"Professor, you are being a horrible example for your students. Perhaps it would do us both a service if you taught yourself more about the history of Fodlan." 

Perhaps, she could learn a whole lot, after all. She had mostly learned about the kingdom for her students and also a bit about the Empire- For different reasons. 

"Well professor, I want you to keep the sword." Seteth immediately turned his face to object but Rhea already had made her decision. "No one since Nemesis has been able to wield this sword, it seemes it has found it's new master. I am sure you will make good use of this sword." 

"Very well, professor. However, never try to betray the trust the archbishop has given you." She surely didn't want to get into trouble with Seteth.

_"All of this scares me, yet I trust you. Please just promise me you will always follow your own path."_

Whatever happens, Sothis. I promise.

*****

He had to check on her, make sure she was fine. He headed to out to the hall when he saw her arrive with Dimitri. 

There the two of them split up, Dimitri was probably going back to his room. He decided to follow her from a distance. 

She was holding something in her arms in a cloth, was it that sword? She headed to her room first and dropped it in, as he didn't see it with her when she left.

Apparently, she had decided to go fishing a bit. He was stalking her from up the stairs. 

"Why are you hiding?" 

At this he jumped out of where he was and steadied himself to look as natural as possible. 

"W-Who me? I was just-" 

"Why don't you just come since you're already here?" 

His legs moved him without him even thinking. As if he simply couldn't refuse something she asked of him.

"Have you ever fished?" 

Honestly? Never, and he never thought he would ever have to. He would watch her do it, at least.

Just as he sat, she handed him a fishing rod. "I actually don't-" 

"Well why not be it your first time?"

Well, why not. They both threw their lures into the lake, and waited for anything to take the bait. 

"Ferdinand... I don't want to relieve what happened today. That's why I-" 

"Professor! It was my choice and-" 

"You have seen nothing! You died!" 

At this he looked at her with the most puzzled face ever. 

"I- I mean you could've died!" 

Well yes... but he didn't. And he believed at most he would've ended up injured, nothing fatal. 

"Professor, why do you worry so much about me? I thought you hated me and never wanted to talk to me again." At this, his face flushed bright red. 

"I myself am not sure why... Let's just say that I've grown to be very fond of you." Whenerver she put up that smile, he felt his heart skip a beat. 

"Also, you don't need to hide when you want to talk to me. Just come straight up, you don't need an excuse to."

At that moment, he felt something pull at his fishing rod. He held it strongly with both arms.

"W-What do I do?" 

"Pull it out, quickly before it breaks your line!" 

It was quite strong, but nothing Ferdinand Von Aegir couldn't do- 

She put her hands over his and got closer as she helped him to get it out. 

They were up against each other, as they both pulled. That's when the fish flew out with the hook it was attached to.

He thought that it would land right on his face, but she lifted the bucket and caught it in before that. 

"That was... stimulating." He wasn't sure what was more stimulating, them being this close or the entire pulling-the-fish-out-thing. 

He heard someone behind them clap. "That was amazing!" It was Seteth's younger sister, Flayn. 

"Hey Flayn! Up for some fish today?" 

The young woman was practically pumping her fists in the air, surely he didn't believe anyone could love fish that most. 

He wanted to ask her about that sword, but it would just need to wait.


	7. Sweet Embrace

"And for what honor do we have you in our classroom today, Linhardt?" 

It was a week since the incident in the Holy Mausoleum, and he had spent all his spair time working on a "little project" for the professor and Dorothea. 

"Nothing, I was just looking for- oh here it is. I've been looking for it everywhere." 

The young man picked up a document from their class's library. He assumed that he must have forgotten it here when he switched over to the blue lions. 

"Perhaps I should tell you that a true noble should take care in being more organized, Linhardt!" He may not be his classmate anymore, but a noble must assist other nobles to achieve the apogee of nobility. 

"No thanks, I'm leaving anyways. I have more interesting things to take care of." 

"Linhardt, you must know that you will simply make it harder for compt Hevring if you keep acting like this." 

If he could rewind time at that moment, he probably would, he never saw Linhardt make that expression before. 

"So?" 

SO? He had already gotten himself in this awkward discussion, so he might as well answer. 

"Linhardt, I mean no offense, however-" 

"Please keep this all for yourself, if your definition of nobility is to ride a horse and drink tea, then I do not care to be part of it." 

"I actually just came back from- No you must know what I mean. As a noble you have a huge responsibility! Commoners must look up to you and you must take care of your territory and protect them." 

"Well seeing our fathers' hardwork, I highly doubt that's what this is all about now." 

His father was very secretive about some issues, that was for sure. But deep down, he kept denying it, he didn't want to believe that his father was THAT kind of noble. 

"Well actually- It's not-" 

"And since you're pursuing this very noble route, I doubt a commoner could ever dream of being accepted in the very noble Aegir house. Or do you think your father would love to have a commoner as your wife? Maybe he would accept one as a concubine if hmm..." 

"HMMM?" He never felt this embarrassed before, whoever that commoner Linhardt was referring to... What started as a simple remark by him, was now backfiring on him in a way he didn't expect. 

He knew his father's expectations, and he would be put in an arranged marriage sooner or later as it has already happened once before (although his father decided against it after they heard some rumors about the bride). Whatever was to come, he accepted it as one of his noble duties. 

"At a loss of words are we? Well please do me a favor and restrain from approaching me with these remarks again. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a new crest bearer to study." 

Well if one thing he concluded from this discussion, it is that Linhardt is never to be bothered again- Wait a what?!

"A new creat bearer?!" 

Linhardt turned his head around lazily to answer his question. He didn't want Linhardt to critique him again, but what could he mean by a new crest bearer? 

"Oh you don't know?" He was supposed to know? "Well yes of course you don't, only our class knows currently, but it's not like it's a secret anyways." 

He saw Linhardt strike a small smirk, as if mocking him. "It's actually the professor. Who would've expected a commoner to carry a crest, very rare isn't it?" 

He could've sworn his eyes would pop out of his head at this moment, was he mocking him or was he being genuine? 

"You don't have to believe me, you know."

At this moment, it came back. That sword, now he was sure of it. He kept denying it because who would've thought a mercenary would be carrying a crest, but it must be a hero's relics. 

"No- No, I believe you." The sleepy green mage was already leaving while he was trying to recover from the shock he just had. "Linhardt! What crest is it?" 

"You've taken up enough of my time, go ask yourself if you want to know." Just before exiting he stopped and took a few steps back "Prepare to be surprised, however." 

What could even surprise him at this point? 

*****

"We will move into kingdom territory tomorrow morning, so make sure to be prepared." 

She couldn't really control it, but she was always looking back and forth at Sylvain throughout the entire day. 

She already had to kill Ashe's father, and now? How much did she and her students have to endure this kind of missions? 

They would have to go and hunt down Sylvain's older brother, the first son of the Gautier family. Sylvain was always reassuring her that Miklan was disowned and not his brother anymore. 

But... Sylvain, if she was honest, was one of the hardest people to read. He always put up a mask, and he never seemed to take it off. 

She didn't exactly understand why some people tried to hide their true feelings, she guessed she would understand if she had more of those... emotions, but it was perhaps just something she lacked from birth and couldn't obtain... right? 

Although... she will admit that she always tried to keep a straight face with Ferdinand even when she wanted to express other feelings... is that the same as what Sylvain does?

_"He's a student, not even YOUR student."_

Thank you for stating the obvious, Sothis. She cared about ALL the students, him included. She was simply more worried about showing anything because she knew more about him than the other students of the Black Eagles or Golden Dears. 

_"You know you can't really lie to me, right? Well watch out now, you will probably get more looks from the noble kids because of your newly found crest."_

It didn't matter, having a crest or not. And it surely won't matter now, nothing will change. 

_"Well could we at least get out before one of the two crest freaks comes after you?"_

Well that was actually a great idea... 

*****

Why would she not tell him? It had been a month since the incident in the Holy Mausoleum. 

They had spent some time together, having tea and the likes. Yet it never came up.

No... She would tell him when she would feel comfortable to. Her students knew because they train with her regularly. 

He was heading to the training ground to get his mind off of this, and perhaps try some of the new equipment he had gotten. 

As he entered, he was surprised to see that he was alone. Usually anyone coming to the training ground enters with the idea of sparring with Felix. 

The latter must be busy since he had heard that Byleth's class would head to the kingdom tomorrow.

Either way, he had a mission of his own with his class, and the most important preparation before a mission is to have the weapons taken care off. 

Most nobles would look down on him for doing this handiwork himself, but he stood by this principle as he couldn't trust anyone but himself to take care of his equipment. 

It had been around 10 minutes when someone burst in through the trainng ground, which actually made him jump at the sudden surprise.

"Fe- Ferdinand is it?! Is it you who smells this good?" 

Wh-What? The young girl who was watching them fish last time, Flayn huh? 

"Are you perhaps referring to the smell of this oil...?" 

"Yes! This is it! I really thought you were cooking..." 

She looked extremely disappointed... Did she really think he would be cooking in the middle of the training ground?

"D- Don't think I just spend my time thinking about food! I actually am really interested in armors and weapons too..." 

"Well why not take a look then, Flayn?" 

If he remembered right, he had heard that this young lady was a prodigy when it came to faith, and thinking back to Linhardt, he doesn't know any white mages whos interest is peaked by weapons much...

"This one looks quite peculiar... It looks like a gauntlet, but..." 

"Flayn! Watch out!" 

In the blink of an eye, he had jumped to protect her, his reflexes had acted before he could even think.

"Are you okay?!" 

"I- I am fine... What happened?" 

He shouldn't have let her touch his equipment... She hadn't realized it since it's a new type of gauntlet where a blade is attached and comes out of the joint.

"I am so sorry... I was too curious. I shouldn't have touched it without your permission. Still... When saving me, you took me in such a tight embrace..." 

He hadn't realized it until she mentioned it... when he looked at her she was blushing intensely. He jumped back immediately, he hoped he hadn't given her the impression that he was molesting her...

He realized at that moment how different Flayn was from Byleth... she was extremely small and fragile compared to her. 

What would it feel like to hold Byleth as he had just held Flayn...? Surely she is a lot stronger, yet from what he remembered, she had a very gentle touch to her.

Perhaps someday- 

"I- I should go now!" 

The young woman must have thought he was blushing because of her when really... Well anyways, he only hoped he did not come out as creepy to her (And That Seteth will never know what occurred.).

All of that made it clear to him, he should go and talk to her, whatever it is, if he doesn't open up first she probably never will.

*****

"Professor! Seteth has a message for you." It was Cyril. 

When she thought about it, it was the first time they spoke besides that one time when he came with Shamir. 

"He said: 'Go and meet Jeralt in the cemetery.'" 

The cemetery...? For what would he ask that? 

"Well I have work elsewhere, I'll go." 

The poor boy must've walked a lot around to find her, she knew he was always extremely busy. The best she can do is thank him. 

Although where is even the cemetery...? Well she will just have to figure it out herself.

*****

As she arrived at the cemetery, she noticed her father standing infront of someone's grave.

"Hey, I wanted to propose that you accompany me, but I couldn't find you. But it seemes you figured it out anyways." 

"Yes... What about this place?" 

"Well... I wanted you to meet your mother." 

She looked down at the grave, "Sitri Eisner" was written on, was that her mother's name? 

"Why is her grave here?" 

Was she not born after her father left the monastery? 

"Well that's a lot of questions now... We will get to them another time. Your mother she was... Very soft and intelligent, somewhat like you. You look so much like her." 

This... this was the first time he ever spoke about her mother, and conparing them too... She couldn't help but blush somewhat at the idea.

"And she was the happiest when she was pregnant with you. And she loved you with all her heart, never forget that. Everytime I saw her smile, I was overcome with happiness."

She couldn't imagine being such a source of happiness, she wondered how it would've been like if she was still around... 

"I wanted you to look at this ring, it is the only souvenir that I have left from her. One day, it will be yours." 

"A- A ring? Like a proposal ring?" 

"Yes, someday I hope that you will give it to someone you truly love." 

Someone she loves...? She didn't understand why, but the first person she thought of was... Him. 

_"Your paths don't aline, one day, he will be prime minister. While you will probably be back to being a mercenary."_

Yes she was right, even with her crest, she could never be accepted into their world. They live in a world entirely diffrent from hers, and that would mean that it was a hopless thought. 

_"Well I would have said that before..."_

Sothis being positive for once? That was unusual for sure.

_"However, I can tell that you both care about each other. Let's not jump steps however."_

Yes, thinking about a proposal ring right now was indeed jumping steps. She wasn't even sure about what he felt towards her or her own feelings for him. 

_"Isn't it odd that the emotionless Ashen Demon is thinking about this? Perhaps you're not as deprived of feelings as you make it look."_

She remembered that she was still with her father, it was the first time he was this open with her. 

"Thank you." It was the only thing she could mutter right now. 

"Well I'll leave you alone for now, I've got work." As he left he patted her head gently like he always used to. "Take care, kid." 

_"Well how about you go and talk with him now?! I know you want to!"_

Well if only she was wrong... Because at this very moment, she wanted nothing else.

*****

_"Perhaps he could be in his room?"_

Well we should head over there then, Sothis. 

As she was walking down the dormitory, she spotted Sylvain. It seemed he was having another... breakup. 

"Ah professor, I didn't see you arrive... If we keep meeting "coincidentally" people might get the wrong idea ha ha." 

With that he gave her a wink, but she couldn't help but feel bad for him. After all, tomorrow's mission...

"Hey! Calm down, I was just joking." He looked to the side slightly before fixing her again. "Well let's forget about this. How can I help you?" 

"Another love problem, Sylvain?" 

"Recently, I was dating this girl. I just wanted to have fun, so I told her I wanted to break up. She was more serious about our relation, she started crying and everything became... complicated." 

She didn't want to say something wrong, especially because of what will happen tomorrow, however "It's you who is complicated, Sylvain."

"Come on, professor. Boys like to have fun, that's all!" 

"I don't believe all boys are like this, Sylvain." Her thoughts diverged, she wondered what went on in Ferdinand's head when he sees her. 

"And anyways, I don't care what people think of me. I am a good for nothing noble with a crest, it's all that people care about." 

"You're wrong, people see more than that..." 

"No professor, someday, I will be forced into an arranged marriage with some noble woman. It doesn't matter what I do now." 

At that, she saw his eyes look down, then back at her. As if... his cover had fallen at that instant. 

"Actually, you never knew you had a crest, right?" 

"No... it's not something that mercenaries value, I guess." 

"I see, well for noble families most kids are examined at birth. Even decendants of the ten braves, like me, can not be considered heir if they don't have one. Only the ones with crests are accepted."

He started getting closer as he spoke, she had already backed to the wall.

"For those commoners, I am only a trophy." 

"This is... cynical." 

"Byleth, Understand that people will never love you for who you are now. Only for your crest." 

As she was standing now, he had left no space between them. He held her chin with his hand, but she couldn't do anything to back out of this situation...

It's as if... She couldn't hurt her students, as much as he looked like he wanted to right now. 

"You know what? I am really jealous. Growing up, you did not know about your crest. You were free. Isn't it unfair? Perhaps I should make you pay for it..." 

As he was lifting her chin and lowering his own head, she felt absolutely powerless. She knew she could easily overpower him, yet the sheer shock kept her immobile. 

"BACK OFF!" 

Just as she heard that, Sylvain practically flew off from a punch to the face. 

At that moment she regained control over herself and looked over. 

Ferdinand... When had he arrived? If he hadn't been her, Sylvain would've... 

"SHIT! I was just joking, what was this for?!" Oh he seemed pissed. 

"Preying on a woman is a shame to nobility! And I, Ferdinand von Aegir, will not stand and watch your obscene attitude." 

"Son of a-" Sylvain got up and caught Ferdinand's head, with that he kicked him right in the stomach. After that he held Ferdinand's head again before slamming it on the top of his kneecap. 

"Ferdinand!" That was enough, she was stopping Sylvain right now. 

"Ahh- Damnn" Ferdinand was on the ground, shrieking because of the hit he had just received. 

"SYLVAIN!" She wasn't sure if she was glad to see Ingrid, she had been incapable of handling this fight... What would she think? 

"Ah the only thing missing now-" She punshed him so hard he lost his balance and fell. 

"F-Fine I am sorry." 

"Professor! I'll take care of Sylvain, you should take Ferdinand to the infirmary." 

"Y-Yes. I'll take him immediately." She looked down at the ginger boy, he seemed to be in a lot of pain, even if he didn't want to show it. 

"I- I am fine." 

"Non sense, come, let me help you walk." The boy was bleeding from his nose, he was most definitely not fine.

She got his arm around her and helped steady him to walk over to the infirmary. Honestly, she would've carried him, but she felt like he would've been embarrassed by it infront of Ingrid and Sylvain. 

What Sylvain did today was... She tried to justify it because of what would happen tomorrow, it must be because of it, surely. 

***** 

She walking him to go and have him checked by Manuella. His vision was somewhat blurry.

He had seen Sylvain approach her with wicked intentions, he knew it because of the look on her face back then. 

He intervened because he knew that she would never hurt one of her students, even if that would hurt her in return. 

This is just how she is, he just wanted to be of help to her... 

Going up the stairs was probably the hardest part as his head was still turning because of the hit, but she was practically carrying him at this point.

As they turned to enter the infirmary, it was empty. 

"Don't tell she is- Come lay down here for a bit." She put him on one of the beds and left, he assumed she was looking for his professor. 

After a few minutes she came back, "She's not here, went out probably." 

Well it was probably nothing, it would calm down on itself- 

She lifted him slightly to put his head on her tights, it was odd, it felt like that day all over again. 

"I- I am sorry, I'll have to heal you myself." 

He closed his eyes to fully feel her magic, it was just as warm as he remembered. How long had it been since he had felt it? Two... perhaps three months. 

He was feeling better by the second, as his head ache was appeased by her. 

"Hey... By- Professor." 

"Yes?" 

"I- Why did you never tell me about your crest?" 

Her eyes opened a bit in surprise, "I don't want you to treat me differently because of it. People think differently of you when you have one, isn't that right?" 

"... Some yes. But you, you are still the same By- I mean professor Byleth." 

At that she chuckled slightly "You know if you want you can just call me Byleth, not infront of Seteth thought." 

"Oh no- I would neve-" 

"It's fine, I inisit. You've grown to become a very cherished..." 

"Cherished...?" 

"... A very cherished person to me. I do not know how to describe it but yes, you mean so much to me." 

That's when he saw it again, that warm, soft smile of hers. At that moment, he could have felt his heart flutter of happiness. 

"Byleth you... you have a beautiful smile. Simply seeing it brings me comfort."

"R-Really? Father told me about this kind of thing today..." 

"H- How so?" 

"He said he would be happy when he saw my mother's smile. I guess now I understand more." 

W- Was she comparing their relation to one of a married couple?! He put a hand on his face to mask his blushing, what a comparasion to make. He had to admit that... it made him happy. 

At that instant, she took the hand he used to hide his embarrassment and put it on her cheek. 

"I do not understand everything I may feel... But thank you for today, Ferdinand." 

He steadied himself in the infirmary bed, he was barely feeling anything now. Not like he could feel any pain over his pounding heart. 

His other hand went to caress her teal hair, that's when she put her head on his chest. 

He... He took her in an embrace, his head above hers. He didn't dare to move a single inch now, as he feered the loss of contact now that they were like this. 

"It's... It's the crest of flames. That's what Hanneman told me, and that sword... Rhea gave it to me, the Creator's sword she called it." 

"I see now..." He was supposed to be surprised, but at this very moment, he couldn't care about any of this. 

She lifted her head and took his hands in hers, "I am glad you came today, Ferdinand... Without you I-" Her face was actually getting closer when- 

"Man these days are unbelievable! How dare he leave because of a small mess!" 

They both jumped when Manuella came in, probably drunk and irritated. 

"Oh and whatever! Is he injured?!" 

Byleth nodded to that and got up to let her check him. 

"Well you seem fine. Now out, out!" 

They were both kicked out, as she seemed like she needed space for her breakdown.

"Well... Byleth." Goddess if he wasn't blushing right now like an idiot. 

"Hey, let's take you back to your room, you need some rest."

*****

They were both standing infront of his room, looking at each other. 

He wondered what would have happened if Manuella hadn't burst in... 

"Well, Ferdinand, I'll let you rest. If you don't feel like doing your class mission tomorrow, I can talk with Manuella-" 

"No- No! I am fine thanks to you! I will do my best tomorrow, you take care however. Especially around-" 

"He didn't mean to hurt me." She looked down, he didn't want to end this night on a sad note. "He's just- lost. Please, forgive him for what happened today. I will talk to him, I promise."

"It's all good with me if he doesn't... try anything anymore, with you, I mean." 

"I- Yes, thank you again for today, Ferdie." 

This was the first time she called him by his nickname, it was odd and refreshing at the same time. 

With that she tip toed and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. "Well good night, I'll see you tomorrow before we head out to the kingdom."

"G- Good night!" 

She waved at him and headed downstairs to her own room. 

It was... quite a day.


	8. Lost Rose

"Is it true you got into a fight?!" 

Oh goddess no... Why would Caspar know of all people? 

"Come on tell meeee!" 

"Caspar, that story is gravely overexageratd, I simply got into a small argument, nothing more-" 

"Hey now Ferdinand, that's not true! I heard this story from Sylvain! He was talking about it on our way to the kingdom a few days ago!" 

Sylvain... Wasn't the person they were sent to fight the other son of the Magrave Gautier, or rather his disnherited brother? 

Pretty odd to be this carefree. 

He still couldn't forgive him, not for their fight, but rather, for Byleth. 

How dare he, a man who claimed to hate seeing a woman sad, take advantage of one. 

If their is one thing he despises above all, it is this disgusting attitude he had to see, especially coming from nobles.

"FERDINAND DID YOU GET INTO A FIGHT WITH SYLVAIN?" 

Well if someone hadn't heard the story, now he was sure the entire monastery knew that he had a fight with Sylvain.

"Hshhh. L-Listen Caspar, sometimes a man has to fight, but only for a noble cause." 

"Ah see you understand! You always gave me a lecture whenever you heard about me getting into a fistfight!" 

"Which is everyday, Caspar." He let out an exasperated sigh at this. "And no noble reason can come from such-" 

"Trust me there is no reason more noble than wanting to punch an asshole!" 

Well it is true that Sylvain is an- Wait no he shouldn't use this kind of language.

"Caspar, are we going to train or?" 

There was a reason he had been training this hard. He had been utterly useless last time, he couldn't protect her. 

She even had to take him herself to the infirmary...

How many times had he said now that he was going to get better huh? 

"Ok ok don't get mad I was just wondering because we never got to hear everything since Ingrid came and punshed Sylvain." 

Thank God for Ingrid, she is probably the only person capable of keeping Sylvain in check. 

But that only means that he will divulge whenever she's not around. 

"Man she's sooo rough compared to Mercedes and Anette! Like last time I got hit for the first time for screeming in battle!" 

Pretty deserved probably. 

"Anyways, let's just get into it."

*****

_"Maybe he's in his room, you know it's been an hour since classes ended."_

Well it always felt weird going to the second floor of the dorms, she really had nothing to do there. 

And even more, only noble students lived there. Apparently, Seteth told her that they try not to discriminate between noble and commoners but some nobles can be... picky. 

His room was around the middle of the corridor... She had to pass a bunch of student's rooms to get there. 

She simply always hopped to never have to bump up with one of her students, as 5 of them lived on this floor. 

She stood outside his door and knocked once. No response.

_"I guess he's not there, let's try the training grounds!"_

We should've started there, probably.

"Ahhhhh!" 

_"W-What was that?! Hey it was coming from the other room!"_

She practically knocked the door over, only to see a frightened Edelgard standing on the top of her bed. 

At this exact moment, a small rat ran between her feet, exiting the room. 

"I- I am sorry, I just heard someone scream and-" 

"N-No it's fine, thank you, P-Professor." It seemed like she had trouble even saying the word 'Professor' to her.

Ever since she met her, she always felt like she had a certain distaste- Especially when she didn't pick her class to teach. 

"I- Professor, please don't talk about what happened to anyone..." 

She saw a lot of sadness in her eyes, no- More like shame. She realized it must have been the first time that she saw the Adrestian Princess as a normal person.

"Don't worry, this will stay our secret." 

"A shame really..." At this moment, Edelgard looked down for a moment, but she was not one to show weakness.

"You and I, we are not so diffrent." 

"Perhaps..." She wasn't sure she understood where this is coming from, but she will not dig further for now. 

_"Well that was weird... Anyways, let's go back to our search."_

She waved Edelgard goodbye, oddly enough, Hubert wasn't here, even after Edelgard screaming. 

*****

She headed down the stairs. Just as she was breathing in the fresh air, she was starteled by a panicked Cyril.

"P-Professor! It's very VERY important! Please go and meet Lady Rhea and Seteth now!" 

"W-What is going on?" Whatever it was, just from seeing the poor boy's face, she could tell it was bad.

"Just go Professor! They will explain." 

_"Just go already and stop asking questions! I want to know what is going on!"_

If there was one thing she realized about Sothis, it is that she is extremely curious. 

_"You know I can hear your thoughts?! Move it!"_

*****

"We have looked everywhere... It- It can't be. Where is she?!" 

Just as she arrived she heard the exasperated cries of Seteth, her heart sank when she heard him. She knew he could only be talking about one person.

"Seteth, please... We will find her- Professor," She looked at Seteth, the steadious and serious man she knew, was on the verge of crying right now. "Flayn, she... Is missing." 

"We have looked everywhere Just please...!" The man was pleading her with hie eyes, he was begging her. 

"I will find her." Should she really be making such promises? 

After all, no kidnappings without ransom ever end well... But this is no time to be putting the poor man down. Flayn was probably his only family, what if SHE had lost her father? She would probably be in the same state... or would she?

Either ways, Flayn meant a lot to her too. These past few months, she had become like a younger sister to her. So innocent and so... naive. 

"I will get everyone to look. We are all here for you." 

"T-Thank you..."

"May the goddess protect our dear Flayn." Rhea closed her eyes as if praying for an instant.

Did Rhea really care that much about Flayn? Thinking about it, her and Seteth must be pretty close, she was perhaps even a mother figure for Flayn.

All of that didn't matter, she was going to look everywhere. She has disappeared only recently, there is still hope. 

***** 

"Caspar! Come to class now." Ashe had just entered the training grounds. 

"Class is over thoughhh-" 

"No time to explain, come! The professor called to everyone in our class." 

He wondered if he could... come along. It may be nothing, but it was very odd to ask for a class assembly now. 

The sun was going to set soon, after all. 

Ashe took Caspar by the hand, and practically dragged him until he started walking on his own. 

"May I join?" 

Ashe turned his heard around, "She only asked the Blue Lions to come, but she didn't say anything about other students. You could try to ask her when we get there, though." 

"Alright... No reason not to try then." 

***** 

"Everyone, I need you to listen well." 

He had arrived with Ashe and Caspar, and while he felt a bit awkward at first sitting down in this classroom, he wanted to hear what Byleth had to say. 

Most students were already in, Dimitri, Dedue, Mercedes, Anette, and... even Linhardt? Weird to see him this wide awake at such an hour. 

At this moment, two individuals entered the classroom, "Sorry, professor. Finding him was... a bit more troublesome than expected." 

Sylvain did... Not look good. In fact, he didn't even seem sober. 

"..." Byleth had no words to comment on this. Did she feel guilty about this? 

"I am so sorry..." Ingrid shook her head at her friend's attitude. He felt bad for Ingrid, always looking after Sylvain, and often fixing his mistakes.

"Everyone... Flayn has gone missing." 

Flayn?! What did she mean by gone missing? Did she run away or...?

"It's most likely that she... Has been kidnapped." 

"Who would do this?! I've actually heard a rumor of a knight roaming around the monastery at night!" Anette seemed really scared, but it was only rumors...

"Maybe it's a ghost!" 

"D-Don't joke about this Mercie!" Ashe seemed horrified by this idea, and so did Anette. 

"Enough already." Felix had had it with those three, apparently. 

"Did they look everywhere?" 

When he gave his thoughts about the matter, everyone turned back to look at him. 

"Oh, Ferdinand! When did you come?" Anette, and frankly everybody, were surprised to see him here. 

"He came with me... I hope it's fine professor." 

"Yes, absolutely!" When she saw him, she had a large smile. But when she noticed how excited she seemed, she coughed.

"Everyone why are you worried! She probably just went to get-" 

He never got to finish his propos thankfully as Ingrid gave him a hard hit on the head. 

Byleth acted as she had heard nothing. Which is better for everyone.

"I mean... Yes, the other classes will be informed eventually." She looked over to everyone. "We will began our search. Anette and Linhardt, you two will be charged with passing on this information to the other students." 

"Anette has enough energy for the both of us, I guess." Surprisingly, Linhardt had more energy during this time of the day.

"Uhm... Ingrid?"

"Yes, professor?"

"I want you to take Sylvain back to his room, and just make sure he's fine." 

She didn't seem entirely satisfied, but she noded anyways. 

"Well the rest of you will accompany me. Also to answer Ferdinand's question, yes they have searched everywhere in the monastery. I do have an idea thought." 

Well, that was promising. Poor Flayn... He remembered how much of a "food enthusiast" she was. Always cheerful, but very carefree and naive. What could they even want from her?

*****

"Is it really fine to let them go alone, Profesor?"

Ashe seemed very worried about splitting up with Dedue, Felix and Caspar. Especially Caspar. 

"Don't worry, he has Dedue and Felix with him, what's more the monastery is still a safe place." Ashe was a little flustered at her remark.

"Ah professorrrr! Over here!" 

Anna, a young and pretty successful merchant. If you need any kind of information, she's the ideal person to ask.

"Hey Anna. Did you get me information on what I asked you?" 

"Of course! Can't let down one of my best clients now!" 

She had only heard rumors about it until now, but when she learned about Flayn's disappearance she ought to look into it. This Abyss place. 

"Abyss... Yeah it's a place underneath Garreg Mach. I rarely sell anything to them, they're pretty poor, it's a place where outcasts live, I guess." 

As they walked with Anna, she took them to what seemed to be a large, dark hole in the wall. 

"Well go from here straight, it can be a pretty dangerous place. Anyways, be careful." 

"D-Do we really have to?" 

"I won't force you, but what if Flayn was really down there?" 

"Y-Yes, I wouldn't want to be left there if I were her." 

"Ashe, I'll be infront." Dimitri's soft smile must have reassured the young boy. 

"Aren't you forgetting anyone?"

She wiped her head around to see a probably scared Ferdinand. 

"I, Ferdinand von Aegir, will accompany and assit you the best I can! After all, we are delving into unknown territory." 

She felt some reassurance, knowing he would be coming along. 

"Well let's be careful, everyone. I'll be here to heal if anything happens." 

They were adept for any situation with Dimitri, Mercedes, Ashe and Ferdinand, or at least she hoped. 

She heard footsteps behind them. That's when she turned around and had her sword out immediately.

"Now, now, let's calm down." 

Hubert? Had he been following them.

"I was just curious to see where our dear Ferdinand was heading." 

"Cut it out, Hubert. What do you want?" Ferdinand has distaste for Hubert, that was clear.

"Nothing... I have heard the news from our sleepy mage. Perhaps I could..." 

"Well I see no prob-" 

Ferdinand cut her off and got closer to whisper to her "Hey, that's a bad idea." 

"It's fine, I will keep an eye on him." 

He surrendered to her pretty quickly. She had understood previously that him and Hubert were... not in accordance. 

"Wise decision." 

*****

"Never would I have ever expected there to be hidden passages under the monastery..." It was news to him, he had never heard of any such rumors. 

"From what Anna told me it's... like a black market."

A black market? Hubert would probably be accustomed to such a shady place. 

Where did he get all those poisons and illegal books from anyways? 

"Well we've been walking for a few minutes now... Shouldn't we have seen someone already?" 

"Ashe, the undergrounds from what I understood are very large. It's safer for them to build deeper down." Dimitri looked over to Byleth, "Professor, do you think the church is aware of their presence?" 

"I find it hard to believe that they don't, its weird that they didn't check here thought."

Dimitri... He never saw him show much interest in woman, but with Byleth, he seemed extremely diffrent. 

If someone represented the ideal image of a chivalrous knight, it was definitely him. Not only was he a prince, but he also was extremely liked by most girls (Based on what he heard Dorothea say).

"Well the church have more secrets than you would think." He rolled his eyes at Hubert's remark. 

"Did you hear that?" Byleth was infront of them, her hand clutched on the extremity of her sword. 

"It seemes we were getting closer, however, one of us has troubles keeping their footsteps quiet." He looked over to him, with an aggravating look on his face.

"I'm not used to sneaking around people like you. Knowing you, you probably even have something to do w-" 

From afar, a fire spell was launched at them, however Mercedes had pushed him in time and tanked it herself.

"Mercedes! Are you-" 

"The caster must be quite talented, if it had been a stronger spell-" 

"Ho Ho Ho, of course the caster is talented!" 

Mercedes and him looked at each other in confusion, as if they had heard this laugh a long time ago... 

"Coco, you're not supposed to talk loudly, remember? Well whatever." 

"Professor?!" He looked over at Byleth, she seemed to assess the situation. 

"Four. There is four of them."

"How can you-"

"No time. Mercedes, Hubert and Ashe, stay back and assit us from a distance. Dimitri, Ferdinand and I will cover the front line." 

"Can I just go back?" 

"Hapi!!! Don't you see? They want to challenge the King of Grappling!" 

"Good for you." 

"Unfortunately for you, the great Constance von Nuvelle will have you overshadowed!" 

"All of you. That's enough." 

"Y-Yuri? What do you want now?" 

"I just received news from my men, it seemes like the church has arrested the certain individual that was causing problems." 

"And who is it, Yuri?"

"Ahem." 

"Oh right, you must be surface dwellers, not a very warm welcome you received now, huh?" He almost got roasted by a fire ball, if it weren't to find Flayn he would rather get out of those sewers immediately. 

"Well, who are you? We don't usually get much visitors." 

"We're in search of someone!" Byleth seemed to be getting straight to the point.

"Ah I see, you can find every kind of person down here. W-Wait, that sword! Are you that mercenary they hired as a professor?"

Byleth seemed a bit surprised and nodded, he wondered what she enjoyed more, mercenary work or being a teacher.

All four of those individuals got closer, three- No, two women? Well he wasn't sure from where they were standing.

"I'm Yuri, the Abyss is my territory. And those-" 

"Wait! What is the name of the woman on the Pegasus?! Can you say it again?" Mercedes had lost her cool now, what was the name they had heard-

The blonde woman got closer to take a closer look at Mercedes.

"I- Impossible! Could it be-" 

"Constnace!"

"Oh you know the shady lady?" 

"Big sister! It has been too long!"

Constance had practically jumped over to hug Mercedes.

Constance... Constance... CONSTANCE?!

"C- Constance as in Constance von Nuvelle?!" 

"Oh you know the shady lady too?" 

The woman looked at him for a second, her smile immediately turned into a frown.

"The same day I reunite with my beloved sister, I have to see YOU?!" 

"So it is you! Ever since the fall of house Nu-" 

"Silence, Ferdinand!" 

He backed up due to the sheer force of her glare. 

"House Nuvelle? Truly a remarkable house, quite praised for it's magic." 

"But of course! I see you're quite the educated one!" 

Hubert wasn't wrong, house Nuvelle was a revolutionary in the magic domain. Until its tragic fall during the war against Brigid and Dagda...

"Hmph." 

"Come on now, Constance. I'm sure Ferdinand didn't mean anything hurtful."

"I- If you say so, big sister! After all, nothing can ruin the joy I'm feeling right now!" 

"OK Constance keep it for later. What's a bunch of Nobles doing here?" 

"We're looking for a young, green haired girl. We believe that she was kidnapped." Quite a forward way to say it...

"I see. Sorry to tell you that but no one down there that fits your description is present. And if you believe they took her in one of the passages, you must know that its a real labyrinth." 

"Even though! We should at least have a look!" They came all the way here to look for her, they were not backing away now.

"Listen now, it could take HOURS to explore a single passage. So stop acting like a smartass your noblness, we're not on the surface and you have no authority here." 

"I never said-" 

"He didn't mean offense. Are there at least commonly known passages down here?" Thankfully, Byleth saved him from talking to this purple haired individual. As he had approached, he deduced he was probably a man. 

Also is that Garreg Mach's uniform...?

"Well... yes, there are. However, people like you would get lost down there."

"How about people like you? You must know the Abyss pretty well, right?!" 

"Well yes, I do. You should know that my services are not free." He gave Byleth... a wink? Was he the male equivalent of Dorothea? 

He shook his head at this thought, and anyways, Byleth seemed unaffected by it.

"Could he be..." Ashe was muttering something under his breath.

"I do have a proposal, however." 

He was standing next to Byleth, ready to listen to whatever he might say.

"If you, "Professor", accept to let the Ashen Wolves, in other words the four of us, attend some of your classes, I will have my men look into all those passages." 

Fool! As if it was that simple as to ask the professor to let them join the academy. It had to go through Rhea and Seteth and-

"Sure." 

He had trouble hiding his surprised face but, that easily?!

"Anything to save Flayn." 

"Oh how reasonable! You won't regret it anyways. Also I can't guarantee we'll find anything, but they'll look everywhere." 

"Thank you! Please help us, and you can attend my classes everyday!" 

"A- Are you allowed to take those decisions?!" Now it was Dimitri's turn to look shocked.

"My little sister with me everyday! I can't wait to introduce you to Anette!" 

"Big sister..." 

The red haired girl was staring right at Dimitri "I think I know you."

"O- Okay...?" 

"I'll remember eventually. I'm in." 

The buffier man seemed older than the other three, "Who wouldn't want to attend your classes?! You're pretty cute!" 

For some reasons, he felt very defensive towards Byleth here. Yuri and... the other guy, yeah like he wanted more people like them around. Sylvain was more then enough.

However, as much as she acted coldly towards him, he couldn't help but feel reassured that Constance is alive and well! It had been years since he had seen her, her loss must have affected her hardly.

One more person to try and fix his relationship with is added to his list. 

"Huh, I hope that doesn't bother mister Noble over there though. Studying with us lowly-" 

"I'm in a different class." 

"Oh-" 

Perhaps he could have said it in a different way, but he saw some hurt in Byleth's eyes. He immediately felt a surge of guilt hit him. 

He felt someone pat him on the back, "Indeed, no honor equals that of sharing the same class as the Adrestian Princess herself." 

"Adrestian Princess?!" Constance seemed quite satisfied to hear this news.

Hubert adding to it... He shrugged his hand off of his shoulder and tsked as the man knew exactly how Byleth would interpret his words.

"Well I assume we have done our part here, it's also getting pretty late." She looked back to Yuri, probably avoiding him. "We should head back. I'm counting on you, and- see you four in class tomorrow." 

"You won't regret having me on your side." Another wink. Yuck. He was done with this for now.

"Ferdinand, is it true thought that Duc Aegir will accompany Lord Arendall next month? You must be so happy to see your father again!" Curse Hubert... he had almost forgotten. And he had to say it right now of all times.

His father next month here, the sooner he leaves, the better he will be.

The way back up is going to be a long and awkward moment for him. 


	9. Strengh of Devotion

"..."

"Oh, Mercedes! This is an unexpected meeting."

"Ah, Ferdinand. Did you come here to pray?"

"Yes. I can't help it, but I the ambiance in this cathedral seduces me." 

He loved the atmosphere here... a mix of comfort and solemnity.

In Enbar, he didn't always have the opportunity to go pray in the churches around them after his mother... 

"This is what a noble spirituality is!"

"Hmm, perhaps. If you say so..."

"The zealous religious that animates nobility must constitute a model for commoners. It is but an other responsibility for us."

All nobles must show their faith for the church of seiros, this is what he always believed growing up. 

The goddess was the one who chose the nobility, and for that, they should be proud. 

However... "Notwithstanding this, many nobles do not give any of their time to prayers these days." 

He looked around him. No one besides them was present, disappointing.

He wondered for a second... Did Byleth ever pray? He had doubts... She didn't seem religious at all.

"You know, Ferdinand... I can't be counted as a noble-" 

"The sens of nobility is being lost at such a rhythm! I must assume that you pray alone most of the time?"

"Yes..."

"How unfortunate. Although, people can't be forced to pray. Such action is inconceivable." 

It came back to every noble to determine which prayers he wished to elevate, and to which conviction he wanted to adhere. 

"Any contrary faith doesn't deserve this name. Don't you agree, Mercedes?"

"Oh, yes. I couldn't say it better..."

"However! We can't just sit-" 

"Oh would you look at that... Class starts soon, I should head out so..."

"And let all this happen! So don't you concider- Hey! Where did Mercedes go?" 

He understood it immediately, she must've went out to consolidate her faith! And all thanks to his discourse, he should do the same. 

Oh... But he had class as well. Perhaps he could have a conversation with Byleth on this subject later. 

After all, he was very curious about her personal beliefs.

*****

"Ho Ho Ho, we should work on this spell tonight." 

"T- Tonight? Why not now? The training grounds-" 

"Never! We shall work on it tonight!" 

"Well if I can sleep now... Then I have no issues."

Poor Anette... She would probably need to work extra hard to handle both Constance and Linhardt.

"Sorry! I'm late!" 

It was unlike Mercedes to be late, however, she knew she must have been praying. 

"Mercie! What's wrong?" 

"Oh I simply had to run as fast as possible so Ferdinand doesn't continue with his long speech... Oh I don't like it, I sound so mean, Annie!" 

"F- Ferdinand?" 

"Yes, professor." She was surprised someone like Mercedes would react this way, usually nothing can budge her and she tries her best to be the nicest.

"Well he hasn't done anything wrong... But he started his discourse on religion and nobility and I just-" 

"HOW DARE HE! ACTING ALL HIGH AND MIGHTY!" 

"C- Constance! It's Allright, he just looses track of himself when he talks..." 

From what she understood so far, Mercedes and Constance were very close friends growing up. Even to the point of considering each other as siblings.

However, both of them lost their titles after the fall of their houses. 

The Nuvelle was acquainted with the Aegir family, as were most empire nobles. She was even friends at some point with Ferdinand...? 

Perhaps was it anger towards him or his family for not helping her during her darkest time?

Or maybe the memories he brought back to her?

"Well it's pretty odd, but I feel like he didn't view me as simply a commoner... I do not know how to explain this feeling but..." 

"Big sister! Please show him NO attention!" 

Constance seemed extremely loathful towards him. What did this boy do to get cold glares from most of the girls? 

Well... except her. She did go through a time when they didn't get along very well, but something about him... Something felt so enduring and attaching.

"Ok ok, let's just start our training in faith magic! We'll talk about all of this later, alright?"

*****

It had been almost a whole month now... She didn't want to loose hope, however she could not stop looking for her everywhere.

Her classes were really taking a toll on her, what if the kidnappers won't just stop at Flayn? What if they go after other students? 

"Professor!" 

If anything at least, this boy radiated pure positive energy. A lot of people hated him for his extravagance, but she saw so much more to him than just this. 

"Ferdinand! I was just thinking that I wanted to talk to you."

For some reasons, her heart fell when she recalled the events in the Abyss. 

Why did he never come up to her to switch classes? What was holding him back? Edelgard? His patriotism? His family? 

They talked almost everyday, yet this subject has never come up. 

"Would you like to have walk... Byleth?" 

For some reasons, she always felt her chest flutter whenever he called her by her name.

He was in fact, the only student who called her by her name. Although, she always felt like he struggled to say it, she knew he didn't want to be disrespectful.

As they headed out of the hall, they started walking up, next to the cemetery, before heading in the way of the knights hall.

"So... Byleth."

"Y- Yes?" 

"Do you believe in the goddess?"

W- What kind of question was that? 

"I- Well I never really thought of it... Does it matter?" 

"Well... I guess. I did understand your dislike towards the church, but does that converge to you disliking the goddess?" 

The goddess... She never really thought of it, ever since arriving, however, she got to learn a lot about this faith.

"I don't think so. I see how much comfort she brings to people like Mercedes... and that's all that matters to me."

He had a genuine smile when said that, as if he was satisfied by her response.

"I- I have a question!" 

"Yes?" 

"I was wondering, you know, I- I have been teaching here for a while now. And despite us being close..." 

She caught on to his face as he was deeply blushing.

"I mean! I dont mean- What I wanted to say is that you never even asked-" 

"Professor! I think I have a lead!" 

Yuri jumped out of nowhere, probably exhausted from having had to run around all the monastery to find her. Wait- A LEAD? 

"Y- Yuri! Quickly! Tell me!" 

"Ok, listen closely. From what my men informed me, someone has been moving in the undergrounds." 

Her heart could barely manage anymore, she had to know-

"And I believe they must have been changing between the tunnels. However! We also found a certain mask..." 

As he handed it over, she was in surprise as she knew exactly who this mask belonged to.

"J- Jeritza!" 

"Yes, exactly. This isn't everything however, he must have moved into a new tunnel recently. And the entrance could only be..." 

"On the surface?!" 

"Yes, I belive that we should immediately inspect the staff's dormitory." 

"What are we waiting for?!" 

Ferdinand seemed... extremely determined. The way he always tried devoting himself to others was... touching.

*****

As they headed over the dorms of the staff members of the church, he realized he had never been here before.

Oddly enough, Byleth's room wasn't here. Her room was with the student's, which was unusual.

Perhaps was it so she could blend in more easily? Or rather her similarity in age with the rest of them? 

Either way, he preferred her having her room there, as he could always pass by her room whenever he headed towards the training grounds every often.

Byleth stopped suddenly her pace. "What's wrong? Jeritza's room should be over there not her-" 

Manuela's room? It didn't seem unusual at all, but Byleth's face said otherwise.

"It... It smells like blood." 

"Blood?!" His own blood frozen at the thought of it.

All three of them walked over to the door, Yuri was standing on one side of it, while Byleth and him stood on the other side.

He wished he could contemplate on this moment with her... but other matters were weighting on him as of now.

"Be careful, I'm opening the door." 

With that, she knocked the door open. 

Only one person was present... and oh goddess he wished he could unsee this image.

"Professor!" 

There she was, his childhood idol, laying on the ground motionless... "I- Is she dead?" 

The words were coming up breathless from his mouth as he hoped she wasn't...

"Move, Ferdinand! And Yuri! Go call my cubs, now!" 

She shrugged him over so she could check Manuela. She held her by her palm, probably to feel her pulse. 

Also her 'cubs'? He didn't really have time to think about this, but he couldn't imagine Manuela calling them her birdies. 

"I- It's ok, She's alive! But that injury is not looking good..." 

"We need to take her to the infirmary then, Byleth!" 

He looked down at his professor... Was she pointing somewhere?

"B- Byleth! Help me move this bookshelf!" 

"Ferdinand, we don't have time for this!"

"Please! Just help me- This is quite heavy." 

He was really struggling with pushing it, clearly, it is too heavy to be a regular one. 

Just as she approached to help him, he felt all of it becoming weightless. She is quite strong... Which wasn't anything new, but the difference in power between them is just... Baffling.

"A passage?! This must be what we were looking for!" 

She looked back at him with a determined look of satisfaction.

"We got them! Ferdie that was amazing!" 

At this moment he couldn't help but feel his entire face beam at her compliment.

"Professor! We're- OH!" 

"Dimitri, no time to explain!"

"What is all this mess about- MANUELA!" 

"Hanneman! No time to explain either! Dimitri, get Manuela to the infirmary! Linhardt go with them and help with stabilizing her situation." 

Oh don't tell me we're going to-

"Everyone else! We're going down!" 

At this Ferdinand heard Linhardt give a sigh of relieve at the news that he wasn't part of their little expedition. 

"D- Down there?!" Then was the turn of Anette and Ashe in unison... Yeah these two hated dark places.

Truthfully... He didn't like them either.

*****

"Alright... Don't make too much noise. We don't know what we will find down there." 

He didn't want to show any fear, but they were heading towards an uncertain situation.

He did feel somehow safer knowing she is with them, but he always felt bad for relying on her strength when he should be able to fend for himself.

Down there... Who knows what they will find. They could be walking straight towards the kidnapper. 

"Hey! Don't move you!" Without warning he saw Byleth seemingly running towards a... mage? Standing on an odd tilt.

What is she thinking? This isn't how we are going to save Flayn! Not by rushing!

"Byleth! Wait!" 

With that, she caught the mage. That didn't stop him thought, he didn't want to leave her side...

Just as he touched her, he felt the world move around, like it was shaking for a moment.

He was extremely disoriented, he ended up falling face straight into...

"Byleth!" 

"Ehm- Right here." 

That was an extremely... unsettling position he was in, it reminded him of that time when he sparred with her and SHE ended on top.

"S- SOLDIERS!" 

He would have given this situation a second thought, if not for him realizing that Byleth wasn't the only person he was squashing.

Both of them sprouted up, and with her sword in her hand, she stabbed the mage. 

"That's not good. That was reckless... I am sorry I got us into this situation."

Their primary goal was to join up with the others, they could be far more in danger than they are.

"A- Alright, I- I'll protect you, just stay behind me." 

She chuckled softly at this and shook her head, yeah she was definitely not taking him seriously right now. 

"The others could be in-" 

"They're fine for now. However, we should start moving.

"How do you-"

"Hsh, you heard that?" 

A few soldier were coming in, nothing the two of them couldn't handle, at least.

He was able to put down an armored foe on his own, as he skewered him with his lance though the small opening available on his helmet.

At this, he felt himself shiver slightly. How could anyone get used to this feeling? 

He looked back at her and saw two soldiers dead at her feet, while he had expected no less, he did feel a bit uncomfortable about her... indifference to it.

She took his hand, "There is still a long corridor to go through." 

***** 

_"The others are doing quite fine on their own, Dedue is being quite a good leader there."_

Good, just having Sothis check on her cubs made her able to focus more on her situation.

_"Not like you could do much for them if anything happens thought."_

Perhaps, but not knowing how they were would be a heavy blow on her consciousness right now.

_"You were an idiot, that's why we're here to start with. You just roll on whatever hill you're on don't you?!"_

Alright, she was grateful for Sothis's help but the nagging wasn't helping much. 

"B- Byleth-" 

She looked over to her side to look at the ginger boy next to her, he had a look of worry on his face.

"Ferdinand... "

At first, she wondered what was worrying him, until she realized she was sweating and huffing intensely.

_"My powers have a limit, and right now we reached it."_

Traps were set everywhere, she couldn't know of their existence beforehand. 

_"So this means... You can't rewind anymore."_

The last thing she needed was additional stress right now, but yes, if anyone were to die right now, she wouldn't be able to do anything.

She looked over, it was an other one of those tilts. 

"Ferdie... I don't see any other exit." 

"I'll go first! If it's dangerous I'll let you know so you don't come!" 

She shook her head, obviously she was never sending him alone over there.

"Of course not, I'll be the one going first, if it's risky, you can just wait here until the knights arrive. They will find you, eventually!"

"No!" 

It seemed like neither of them wanted to leave the other alone in a uncertain situation.

"I guess it's both of us or nobody then..." 

*****

As they both stepped on, they were teleported. 

They ended up in an other room, a larger one. He immediately noticed the presence of a few mages. 

He looked over to her and she nodded. The only thing he was wishing for right now was to find Flayn and get out of here.

As they were engaging with those mages, he noticed her speed and techniques were inferior to her usual level. 

It must be the stress... in addition to all those fights they endured there. 

She caught one of those soldiers and threatened him with her sword. "Where is she?!" 

At first he seemed confused, but he then understood who she was obviously referring to.

He pointed to a certain door, just infront of them. 

"He will kill y-" 

She was done with him at that moment.

"Ferdinand, stay here." 

Was she really expecting him to let her go alone, face to face with that demon?! 

That door was now wide open, that knigh he... he probably felt their presence by now and behind that devil, he saw two girls.

One he recognized as Flayn, the other a... red head? He didn't know her, but she also seemed like a victim. 

"So you have come." 

The hallow voice of this man scared him to no end. 

Before he could ever react, he saw Byleth engage with the death knight.

At her usual performance, she would perhaps beat him. But- 

"Byleth!" 

He felt his heart pound intensily when he saw the blood drip from her left arm. That's when she fell on the ground.

"Now to end this."

"No!" 

He didn't even really think about his actions, but if he didn't do anything now, he knew she'd be gone.

He threw himself on top of her, covering her, ready to take whatever hit that was coming. Perhaps even facing death.

"Halt! That's enough." 

"You're running-" 

"Professor!" 

All the other students were arriving, at this, the Death Knight probably thought it is more wise to simply retreat.

"M- Mercedes! She's injured! Please!"

"We will meet again..."

"I am the flame emperor." 

This is all he recalled from this odd individual, he was still in unstable position, he still hadn't calmed down.

He felt someone pat him on the back "Ferdinand... It's going to be alright." 

It was Mercedes, he realized he was probably making it harder for her to check on Byleth. 

That's when his mind started dancing around, before everything blacked out.


	10. A Mother's Love

"W- Where is she?!" 

He had come to visit her, like everyday, to see how she was recovering from her injury.

"Oh, Ferdinand! She said she has had enough sitting here. It's been a week and I can't recall anyone in my career recovering this quickly!"

"E- Even though! She shouldn't be careless about her health!" 

She studied him from top to bottom, "Shouldn't you be training with the rest of your class? I believe I did assign you to train with Dorothea. And what is this you have with you-" 

"N- Nothing! Anyways, could you tell me where she has gone. Dorothea and I trained for the past two hours and allowed ourselves to a short break." 

"Oh that's nice...," Manuela was more perceiving than she seemed, and she could tell something was off about his attitude. "well she did mention going to the fishing contest if this can hel-" 

"Thank you, professor!" 

At this moment, he probably did not care if he seemed obvious to her.

*****

The monastery's greenhouse was always a place of comfort for her. She loved coming here everyday and taking care of the plants, she enjoyed it even more when she found Dedue here. 

The man had great knowledge in botanics, she had been impressed by him. He was a man you could always rely on and had a big heart. 

She was picking some of her favorite flowers, she had a soft spot for Dahlias. 

Their booming colors and fragrent smell always managed to uplift her mood. She was also really enjoying the flowers from Descur that she always saw Dedue take care of. 

Those flowers today weren't for her however, she wanted to go to the cemetery and place them for her mother.

Her father had told her about her mother's love for flowers, she did feel somewhat exalted that he mother liked flowers just like her. However that was probably not an uncommon thing among women.

Her bouquet in hand, she started heading towards the cemetery.

"P- Professor!" 

She must say that she was glad to see him, he had taken it upon himself to visit her everyday of her stay in the infirmary.

Granted, he wasn't the only one. Everyday she would wake up to baked goods from Mercedes and Anette, comforting words from Dimitri and just the presence of the other's was always enough to bring her joy.

However with Ferdinand, everyday she would see guilt in his eyes. He was not responsible, it was her own carelessness that would always lead them in such situations.

She wondered if she could always relay on luck and Sothis to save them. 

Even now, they have an additional person in her class. Seteth had intrusted her with Flayn, and she just couldn't refuse.

She never wanted such events to repeat themselves, she bet Flayn was still having a hard time with all the mental pressure that was put upon her ever since her kidnapping. 

"Professor... Byleth- Please you should rest more and-" 

"Ferdie." For the first time in a while, she felt... happy. She was glad everyone was fine, that everyone was alive. 

What would have she done if she had learned upon her awakening that ond of her students had been extremely injured... or worse. 

Mercedes had told her that Knight was stopped by an odd individual... someone who went by the name the "Flame Emperor". 

She shook her head at these thoughts, it was over now. No point in living in this past fear, she must learn and go on forward.

"Would you like to accompany me?" 

*****

She was walking him in the direction of the knights hall. Had she picked those flowers herself? Or had someone else given them to her? What was she going to do with them? 

A lot of questions were rushing in his mind but he decided to just go on with her anyways. 

And besides, he had prepared what he believed would, hopefully, impress her. 

"How was the fishing contest?" It was apparently organized by Seteth to lift Flayn's spirit after what happened. 

He had had some fishing experience with Byleth... But he had burned his hand earlier so that was out of the question.

"Oh! I won." 

For some reasons he expected this answer, he doesn't knownanyone besides her or Linhardt that take up fishing as a hobby.

More they walked, and more he realized where they were heading. 

They went down a flight of stairs before they were standing in front of a grave.

Sitri... Eisner? 

"I- Isn't Eisner your last name?!" 

"Yes, it is. I present to you my mother." 

She bent down to depose the flowers, how immature of him to have doubted her and- 

Why should he even feel this way? It's not as if there was anything between them. And besides as a professor she's obligated to keep a professional relationship with him.

Which they weren't exactly following...

"How was she?" It was actually news to him that her mother had died... 

"Hm?" She looked over to him a bit confused. "Oh! Yeah I never got to know her." 

He was surprised by her reaction... Never got to know her? 

"Hmm apparently she died while giving birth to me..." 

"I- I am sorry." 

"Well I don't know much about my mother, how is yours?" 

His... mother? 

"She left me years ago." 

Growing up, his father was never a great husband, that he was sure of. His mother had ran away from their home years ago after being forced into this marriage for 7 years. 

She must have hated him just as much as she hated his father... He may have known his mother but she had long since stopped loving him. 

He wondered where she was now... 

His father had remaried countless times, but none of his step siblings happened to bear a creast like him.

He looked over to Byleth and saw her looking back with a worried face of hers.

"Oh I didn't want to-" 

"You! You must be-" 

An odd looking man was right behind them, his eyes were practically glowing when he was staring at Byleth.

"You look just like mother! So you are Jerlat's child..." 

"You knew my mother...?" 

At this moment he saw like a spark light in her, she seemed like she didn't care who her mother was or what she did, but now... he saw curiosity in her eyes. 

"Yes I knew both of your parents! Oh you can't imagine how long I've wanted to talk to you... I used to live in the monastery but... Well it doesn't matter." 

He looked over at the grave and seemed to be taken by sudden joy.

"You... Thank you for bringing her flowers. These were her favorites."

Byleth was blushing a bit at the remark.

"I am certain that she would be extremely happy to receive a present from you, after all you were the biggest joy in her life..."

His smile had such a sad feel to it, as if he were overcome by nostalgia at this exact moment.

"Now I can finally find peace. Well, I will take my leave. Please take care of yourself and-" 

He looked at Ferdinand, studying him in this brief instant. He felt awkward at this sudden attention, but he did feel that the priest was happy by his presence. 

He left as in a rush. That's when he remembered that he wanted to show Byleth something...

"Hey, Byleth. Could you get Dorothea and meet me in the refectory?"

"Wh-" 

"Please?" 

She seemed skeptical but she nodded. He needed her away a bit until he was ready to show off.

*****

"Ferdie? What does he want right now?" 

She wished she knew, but she guessed he must be planning something.

"Uh this guy always finds new ways to annoy me." 

"Well let's just go and see what this is all about." 

She took Dorothea's hand since the latter was still debating with herself whether she should go or stay.

"F- Fine! Why not." 

*****

They got over to where Ferdinand should be but didn't quite spot him at first.

"I swear if he makes me waste my time-" 

"Dorothea! Professor! Please sit down." 

He was holding a... plate? It was covered so she had no idea what was on it.

"Would you enjoy some these home made sweats?" 

"Huh? Ferdie... Since when do you excel in baking?"

He felt extremely proud of himself, he seemed... so pure.

"Ha ha, Dorothea. I can't pretend I'm a specialist." 

She took one off the plate and tried them, it was surprisingly very good. He didn't only take care to make them presentable, they were also delicious.

"It took a lot of trial and errors, but I've managed it. Also about your little enigma, Dorothea..."

Was it something she wasn't aware off? 

"Dorothea! You said I was like a bee. These insects are hard workers, just like me." 

"Hmm Ferdie no need to-"

"However! A bee inherits a home abundant with honey. In the same way, I didn't earn my status with hard work, I inherited it." 

A bee? Dorothea sure likes tormenting the poor boy.

"I have deducted that if I do something new, starting from nothing, you could look at me in a different light!"

So that's the objective he put to atteign. Following the route that made a young orphelin into the songstress that she is today... 

"So you renonce your status of nobility?" 

"Nooo! I made these!" 

At this she couldn't help but giggle slightly, while Dorothea shook her head in despair. Yes Ferdie could be a bit oblivious, but that was part of his charm.

"I have collected all the ingredients myself!" 

So that would mean... the sugar and flour.

"The flour was given to me for helping work in the fields. The sugar comes from a marchant I helped." 

"And- you also baked these?!" 

"Yes! I volunteered for additional chores to have access to the kitchen at night."

She was looking at the hand he was holding with the plate, when she noticed "Ferdinand! How did you injure yourself?!"

He looked down at his hand, "Oh this, just a simple burn. Nothing important."

"Are you joking? We should take you to the infirmary." She felt a bit overprotective at the moment but he shouldn't be careless with his injuries.

"Hi hi, you know, taking care of your body is part of your noble duties, Ferdie." 

She felt like he was a bit disappointed at her words, perhaps it was the fact that she seemed disgusted by all nobility.

"However, I must say I might have slightly changed my opinion." 

He practically jumped over, "R- Really? Ah finally we start to-" 

"Hey now, I said slightly. And you still haven't figured what makes you a bee." 

"I- I haven't?!"

"Ferdinand." 

She turned her head to see Hubert standing right behind her and Ferdinand, which made her jump in surprise as she was so distracted by her time spent with Ferdinand and Dorothea.

"Lord Arundal and Duke Aegir arrived a few hours ago. However since they were busy with Lady Edelgard-" 

She looked over at Ferdinand to see a face of utter shock... and fear? Or was it nervousness? 

"I- I had no idea. I'll be there immediately." 

She caught a glimpse of Hubert smirking, she was sure he was up to no good. 

"I apologize, but I must take my leave." 

"Ferdinand! Your hand!"

He left without a second glance and went with Hubert out towards the hall.

She wondered what kind of man was Ferdinand's father, did he look like his son? Did he act like his son? Surely someone must have hammered into his head all those noble values.

"Hmphhh what a shame. I'll even admit I was having some fun with mister nobleman, maybe he's not that bad after all." 

So Dorothea was rethinking her judgment... At least that was some good news.

*****

"Having fun weren't we?" 

Hubert with his infuriating grime again... He would do anything to get it off his face.

"Oh my! How happy Duc Aegir will be!" 

"Whatever you mean, Hubert." 

"Oh Aegir, you know exactly what I mean." 

A thought of doubt was circulating through his head... But he knew he could not mean anything else.

"His dear, dear Ferdinand baking for some random women, commoners if I may add. How outstanding this news will be." 

He froze in his spot, thinking about what Hubert had just said.

Yes, Hubert was not wrong. He knew exactly what kind of mentality his father had, who knows what will happen if he caught news of that.

"As long as you behave I have no reason to say anything, how evil you make me out to be." 

Yes... Hubert wasn't that kind of person. At the very least he hopped so. Wait...

"Hubert, are you threatening me?" 

He looked the man dead in the eyes waiting for him to succomb to him.

"Well, call it whatever you like to." 

His father was staying in one of the guest rooms in Garreg Mach, and so was Edelgard's uncle. 

He knew the church and empire weren't on their best relationship, but maybe they were going to fix that. 

After all, the church supposedly supported the separation of the empire.

Getting divided and becoming the kingdom, then divided again to become the Alliance.

A lot of imperialists were still wishing for a reunification of the continet, however that seemed like a far off dream as of now. 

And besides, the two other countries seemed better and happier with their own leaders and regims. 

They arrived infront of the door, Hubert simply knocked on it before turning around, ready to leave.

"You're leaving?" 

"We've already did our little talks, it is your turn to adress your father, after all, he's leaving tomorrow." 

With one last glance he heard him mutter under his breath, "Enjoy." 

*****

He tried entering the room as calmly as possible, he didn't want to mess up right now. 

"Good evening, Father." He bowed slightly.

"Ferdinand! Come, come. I had something to discuss with you."

This really didn't feel good... "Yes?"

"So, do you like someone, Ferdinand?" 

He felt a sudden nervousness rush through his entire body at those words, had Hubert talked?

"M- Me? No, why?!" 

His father looked at him in a skeptical way, but luckily for him, he was pretty oblivious.

"Good! You know where these situations get you. Well unless they come from a very predominant family." 

His father would never settle for a random noble woman, and definitely NOT a commoner.

"So... What do you think of Edelgard?" 

"She has gotten a lot of issues when it comes to managing and keeping the trust of our fellow classmates, these days she has been handling the situation, however, we have already lost two people from our class." 

"Hmm yes, do you think you would be a better leader?" 

Him? If someone had asked him this question at the beginning of the year, he would've said yes without hesitation. Now it was different.

"Well I-" 

"Yes no need to answer, of course you would! You're my son after all." 

He felt a sudden dizziness, he really did not like where this was going.

"You know, our 'Emperor' has little time left. Soon Edelgard will be the one ascending the throne, but probably only as a façade."

He looked confused at those comments. A façade? Since when is the Hresvelg family not the one in cont-

"So my son, what if, let's say, you marry Edelgard-" 

"Father, I do not think this is a very-" 

"Let me finish."

He didn't have the confidence to oppose his father, so he just sat there silent.

"If this would happen, think about the political control we could get!" 

He understood exactly where his father was going. After the insurrection of the seven, the Emperor was stripped away from his functions, a mere puppet now. 

Now he caught up to it, his father had had the power in the backstage all this time, but that wasn't enough for him anymore.

"Oh, I'll also be watching the battle of the Eagle and Lion! You should assert yourself there, lot of important noble families will be watching." 

"Yes." He had so much more to say, he wanted to refuse everything this man had said. Yet here he was, standing still, not saying anything back. 

"Now I need some rest, I'll come see you one last time tomorrow before leaving." 

He noded and exited the room, he had never felt this kind of dread in his life before. 

*****

It had already been hours since Ferdinand had left them to go talk with his father, usually he came by to say goodnight to her before heading out to his room. 

_"Let's just go and check on him!"_

Strangely, she felt Sothis had grown just as fond of him as she had.

_"Shut up!"_

Sothis sighed slightly before giving in. _"Do you think he would have liked me if he could have met me?"_

"Yes, of course!" This was an honest answer, and honestly, Ferdinand wasn't the type to dislike someone for no reasons. 

*****

As she went up the stairs and came closer to Ferdinand's room, she heard the sound of something shattering. 

"Hah." Hubert was standing just outside of his room, he seemed somewhat unnerved. 

"Perhaps you should check on him." Was the only thing she heard from him before he went back into his room. 

She knocked calmly on Ferdinand's door, who was taking a while to answer. 

She finally heard footsteps and a click at the door. 

"Yes...?" 

"Ferdinand!" She was surprised by his tired appearance, he seemed really out of it. 

When he saw her he opened the door more, and she had no second thoughts when she went in. 

The state of his room was a mess, there was even a broken vase on the ground. 

She tapped him on the back and told him to come and sit next to her on his bed. 

"What's wrong?" She couldn't erase the face of concerne she had for him at the moment. 

"I- My father he-" 

She started rubbing his back to comfort him, she didn't want to force him to talk if he didn't want to.

"He... He wants me to get married at the end of the school year." 

She never thought simple words would break her this way. 

Like a reflexe, she took his hand and started rubbing it with her thumb, hoping that would take away from the sad look she must have on right now. 

She heard him ache in pain, she remembered his injury. She started casting a healing spell, hoping it would not only heal him, but also calm him.

"You know... I always knew this was coming. I was prepared for it before, but now... It just hurts." 

With each word she felt even more torn. 

"And I- You know I've always wanted to join your class, to be closer to you-" 

It's odd how months of doubt came crashing on her.

"But my father- He... He would never accept to see me fight for a different class in the battle this month and I-" 

"What about after?"

His eyes were wide open in realization. Yes his father wouldn't know that he switched after this month if he doesn't recieve words from anyone. 

And oddly enough... She felt Hubert would want Ferdinand as far from the Black Eagles as possible. 

"Yes... I would love that." 

She rested her head on his shoulder, he was way taller than her but it was the perfect height for her.

"You know... You really surprised me today. And Dorothea too! You're so much more than they take you to be." 

His hand on her cheek, as if nothing really mattered right now, they both were close, very very close. 

"Thank you- I don't deserve such praise, I have been an extremely arrogant person and I..." 

She could feel his face was on fire, and at this distance, she could even sense the heat from it. 

It was as if it was instinctively, at this moment they both locked lips with each other. 

Neither of them seemed to care about the consequences such actions could cause. 

It was a short one, but it felt the world to her. She was always confused about those feelings, but now she felt as if it were all clear. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the support I've been receiving! We've finally made it to chapter 10! I never thought I'd manage to stay motivated to write this but its actually been a great time working on this 0w0


	11. Two Sides Of The Same Coin

He had awoken the next morning feeling a lot better. As short as the contact was, he... He was happy that she felt the same way. 

If his father was marrying him off by the end of this year, he might as well break some rules. 

He knew, put it simply, that his father would never agree with his relation with Byleth. In his eyes, she was but a simple commener, that would bring nothing to the Aegir family. 

These days, he felt a huge gape when she wasn't around, he had gotten quite used to her company... 

He wondered if he could keep a straight face when talking to her after what occurred yesterday... 

He got up and partaked in his usual morning routine, although he was more attentive to his appearance today more than ever. 

Was it for her that he was doing this? 

Perhaps. He really did not feel like going to his classes today, and see... those two. 

If Hubert figures his father's plans out, it's likely he won't make it to the end of the year. 

Could Byleth compete with the crowned princess of Adrestia? He really can't imagine having to live the rest of his life with... Edelgard.

He shivered at this simple idea. 

All these negative thoughts were clouding his mind. Whatever happens, he will take it, as it is his duty and his feelings should only come second. 

He wondered what choice to make... Cut of his relationship with her or continue and then break her by leaving to get married with someone else by the end of this year?

Break her...? Would she care? She was never much of an emotional person, but he knew they had developed a kind of... link between each other. 

He will probably feel just as broken then. Is it selfish to try and enjoy his time with her right now? 

Either way, he will go see her and maybe ask her her opinion on all of this. He doesn't want to hurt her... but they must both be realistic. 

*****

As he was heading down, he spotted Sylvain, he was talking with some woman he had never seen before. 

"You're a very good woman, you know. Such a shame that you don't have much luck with men."

He was not one to judge people based on appearance, but it jumped to his eyes that this woman was definitely a commoner.

"You need someone like me. Someone who appreciates your beauty, your kindness. And who would give you all of his love." 

"W- What? Stop! What are you even saying! I am sure you're not even honest..." 

"Do I look like a lier?" A lot, actually... "Are these the eyes of a man who would toy with you?"

He saw the woman was now deeply blushing, did she really believe all of this...? 

"Sylvain!" Now he saw another woman... practically weeping.

"You're cheating on me! How dare you after I gave you all of my trust!" 

"W- Wow, who are you?" 

The first woman was now staring at Sylvain with a skeptical look.

"I swear! I've never seen her in my life!" 

"S- Sylvain? What are you doing with these two? Are you cheating on me?" Here comes a third one... 

"Oh well, would you look at that! I have some training!" 

He ran away from those ladies, leaving them crying alone. How many more had he tricked? 

He couldn't leave them all three in this state- 

"Don't tell me it was Sylvain!" 

Thank the goddess, Ingrid had arrived. 

"Sigh... Me who wanted to get some training early." 

He felt extremely bad for her, but he would only make it worse, because as opposed to Sylvain, he always had good intentions but for some reasons people thought HE was the one with wicked intentions 

*****

As he continued on his way to Byleth's room, he felt a cold hand on his shoulder.

"Was nice to watch, wasn't it?" 

So he had noticed his presence... It was indeed rude to just spy on people, he supposed. 

"I was just passing by-" 

"Oh cut it out! I can see it! I don't care if you judge me, after all, I'm a crappy noble, and thats all what anyone will ever care about." 

Now he felt his blood boil, always using his title to get out these kinds of situation was simply disgusting.

"And you're one as well." 

"Do NOT ever put me in the same box as you!" 

"You know what I mean. If I act the way I do now nothing will change, I'll still be married off to some random woman." 

He unconsciously looked down, he could really understand where Sylvain was coming from, and yet-

"You know, you're pretty easy to read!" Sylvain was laughing as if he had just found his weakness. 

"Let's try this out. Do you like a certain commener?" 

Again, he unconsciously lowered his gaze. Its as if he had no control over it, he cussed under his breath.

"Alright, alright. I caught a glimpse of your father yesterday, I wonder what he would do..." 

"Sylvain-" 

"Hshh, it's fine. We're in the same boat. Go have fun, our little secret, but tell me who it is when it gets serious." He gave him a wink, "I'll give you some advice!" 

He was practically burning from the embarrassment, he was not like him. Byleth was not a moment's distraction until his fated arranged wedding.

He looked back at Sylvain, however, the man had an extremely... depressing look. 

He would even say that... he felt some pity. His anger disappeared with these thoughts, he was sure this man had more depth to him than he originally thought. 

He wondered back to what Hubert had told him... That he only saw the surface of things. How true was that? 

"Just know that she will never love you for who you are. Only your crest and wealth."

After those words, the man straitened back up, put his arms behind his neck, and acted as if nothing had happened.

"Just kidding! Well Felix is waiting for me. Later, Ferdinand." 

He had heard a lot about the Magrave Gautier, a harsh father, disowned his eldest for a lack of crest. 

He thought about his father, he hadn't disowned any of his step siblings for a lack of crest.

Perhaps Fargheus culture was just more strict for their nobles, has he had it easier compared to Sylvain? 

He had, after all, heard from a lot of people that he... lacked experience. 

*****

She had just finished getting ready, she was running a bit late on her schedule. 

She first needed to go to the training grounds to supervise the Reason trainings of her students.

She thought back to yesterday night. Did he... enjoy this... this kind of familiarity with her? 

She attached her sword to her belt and looked at herself in the mirror one last time. 

_"Stop making scenarios in your head, you'll figure it out soon enough."_

Yes, after all, he had not pushed her back. Anything is possible... Well, she'll just listen to Sothis this time. 

She opened the door and was greeted with Ferdinand. She jumped away in shock at this sudden appearance, she was not expecting him right now.

"I- I was right about to knock-" He looked down, deeply red in color. 

She greeted him back with one of her smile, a smile she kept for her favorite sights. 

He looked back at her, trying to keep contact with her eyes, but failed to, as his gaze dropped immediately.

"I'm sorry." This was all she managed to get out, had he came to tell her that he never wanted her close to him after what happened?

"I..." 

At this point her heart was sinking deeper with every second he left her on a cliffhanger with his stuttering words. 

"I- I love you!" At this point, she wasn't expecting such response from him. "And I would love if you would spend my last year of freedom with you!" 

Now he looked down again... She understood that this was all extremely hard for him to get out. 

"Your last year of fre-" 

"When this year ends, my path will be filled with uncertainties. I will not be give options, I will not be asked my opinion." 

She knew exactly what he meant, he was bound to follow his father's decision, this is how a noble's life goes. 

"But I-" Even with all his trust in the nobility, she could still feel some doubt in his words. "I don't want to hurt you, and I understand if what happened didn't mean much-" 

"No, Ferdie. It meant a lot for me. And just knowing how you feel lifts a heavy weight off my chest..." 

She reached out for his hair and set it back behind his ear. His eyes followed her hand's motions, and she could feel the heat in his cheeks.

"I'll stay with you until the end, but after that I guess- I guess you will just have to follow your own path." 

Would she ever get to see him once he leaves? After all, he was to become the second most important figure in all of the Empire. 

"Yesterday..." 

"Yes...?" 

"It was my first..." 

Her face heated up at his statement, as her eyes were also wide open in shock. He hadnt even finished his sentence but understood where he was coming from immediately.

"I- Oh... " 

All she could hear right now were Sothis's extremely loud laughter resonate in her head. 

"I- Well... It's mine too." 

As if her blushing had contaminated him, he was now the one in a state of embarrassment. 

"Oh..." Looking at his features closer, it was actually quite a satisfied face, she guessed he felt better knowing it was her first one too. 

She looked over to the clock on the left wall of her room and- 

"I'm running late! Come with me, I'm going to the training grounds!" 

She took him by the hand as they left her room and rushed towards her destination. 

*****

"Hm I wonder if Linhardt is up..." 

"Well, knowing him I would doubt that. His laziness is beyond words!" 

"No, no. I'm sure Anette must have awoken him up. I hope so, at least-" 

"Ferdinand!" 

They were stopped in their steps just infront of the training grounds. By what seemes like a- some kind of noble she assumed. 

She looked over to his side and realized who the person accompanying him was. 

She had seen that man yesterday, Edelgard's uncle, talking with Dimitri. She had yet to ever talk to him, but looking at him, she wished she wouldn't have to. 

Ferdinand was having a cold sweat, almost shivering from sheer anxiousness. This couldn't be-

"Y- Yes, father?" 

He slowly left her side and approached his 'father'. She looked momentarily at him, not wanting to act creepy, and frankly, he looked nothing like his son, besides the ginger hair. 

"Hmm who's that woman?" 

"T- That's one of the Academy's professors, we were just heading to train-" 

When she looked back, she saw him scanning her from bottom to top. She had realized she had stood frigid and not said a single word. She bowed slightly as she really had no idea what to say. 

"Well, anyways." He had barely even acknowledged her presence... "I have high hopes for you! Lead the Black Eagles to victory." 

"O-Of course, father." 

It seemed, however, that she had caught the attention of Lord Arundel. 

"That sword..." she heard him mutter under his breath before shrugging it off.

She simply assumed the creator's sword was pretty famous, anyone would be surprised at its sight. 

It seemed like an eternity before those two finally took their leave, she heard Ferdinand take a deep breath after this. 

She knew, deep down, that Ferdinand would never be able to stand against his father. 

When they were out of sight she put a hand on his shoulder, hoping that would bring him some comfort. 

"I'm sorry... I just- When I see him." 

"Shhh it's fine." 

She looked around them, making sure no one was around and tip toed to match his height to give him a soft kiss on the lips. 

He was stunned and couldn't say anything.   
"I have a class to teach, let's have some tea when I finish, okay?" 

He nodded while still being under the shock, before she waved him off so he could head out to his own classes. 

***** 

Unbelievable, he, Ferdinand von Aegir, had planned to skip his classes all together today.

What had he been thinking? How would that affect his perfect student image? 

He had woken up feeling... comforted, yet distressed, and confused at the time.

His mind went to Sylvain, as much dirt as he had over his name, he believes that the man was actually... not a bad person. 

He could never forgive some of his actions, he had even been utterly disgusted by some of his attitude, but what really caused it? 

Well either ways, this month would be a full on training, he was ready and set to prove himself during the Battle of the Eagle and Lion. 

***** 

It was finally the fated day of the battle, they had prepared day and night to crush the opposition.

"Feeling confident, professor?"

"Of course!" 

She had no less expectations for her students, Dimitri alone could defeat an entire army. 

Some of her students were more anxious than others, especially Ashe. She tried reassuring him the best she could.

On the other hand, Felix almost had trouble waiting for it to start. 

"If we win, this will attract all the ladies!" 

Sylvain had unique motivations, to say the least. They had already put what had happened behind them, no point in recalling it, and they had a deep talk about everything after... the situation with his brother.

They were also the only class with a student currently possessing a hero's relics, their advantages were numerous. 

"This is on my family's territory! The largest plaine in all of Fodlan!" 

Caspar, alongside most of her noble students, were also looking forward to impressing their parents.

"Hi hi... I will fight like a lioness!" 

She still had been adjusting to having Flayn in her class, she was an uplifting young girl, and she enjoyed her company both inside and out of the classroom. 

"Let's go and show our value as the Blue Lion's class!" 

Deep down, she was not only excited to win, she was also expecting her new... student. 

They had agreed on this. After the battle, he would talk about his transfer to Manuella. 

***** 

"Hm, such a shame Caspar isn't present with us. This is, after all, part of the Bergliez family's territory..." 

"It matters not, Hubert. We have elaborated the ideal strategy to defeat the other classes." 

"I only fear that a certain... narcessitic individual will do his best to ruin this plan." 

For some reasons, both Hubert AND Edelgard decided to stare him down, he decided to play along with it.

"Oh of course! Leave it to me if you feel incapable of it." 

"You'll only get in Lady Edelgard's way-"

"Enough, Hubert. There is no time for this." 

He had learned to ignore Hubert when possible- Or even to annoy him on purpose. 

His father would be watching the fight, as would most nobles. 

Did his father even bet on their victory? He had heard from Lorenz that Count Gloucester had but for the Golden Dears. 

To compensate for their lack of professor and classmates, they were allowed to have some Empire soldiers assist them.

He honestly doubted that they stood a chance, but he was, nevertheless, going to give it his all.

*****

The fight had started about half an hour ago. Their class had managed to take over the hill in the center of fields, but he doubted Bernadetta would stand her grounds for long. 

It seemed she did it on purpose to let them advance while annihilating the Golden Dears. 

Well if anything, it just gave them more time to prepare their attacks. 

Out of his class, he had the best mobility for being on a horse. That way, at least in his opinion, would make him THE most notable student out of the Black Eagles. 

He stood ready south of the hill. That's when he saw him-

"Been a while, Ferdinand!" 

He looked at his fellow cavalier from the Blue Lions. That's when it jumped to his eyes, a relic! 

He held his lance tightly, when had he gotten his hands over one? Had the Magrave given it to him solely for this battle?

He had still not gotten a single injury from this entire battle, and he was set on winning this fight.

He dodged the first attack from Sylvain, he tried to strike back, but he was overpowered. 

He was pushed off his horse, but he was still not done with. 

He immediately picked his lance back up and decided that he would make him taste the same fall he had endured. 

He really hated injuring horses, they were, in his eyes, extremely noble animals.

With all of this in mind, he made sure to kick him off while not hurting Sylvain's mount. 

"Shit-" 

They were both on their own feet now. But did this even give him an advantage? 

Surprisingly, he had learned a lot from his last encounter with the red head. 

He had also learned that he was able to dodge most of his attacks- Sylvain himself being a bit on the slower side and holding a heavy lance.

It all played to his advantage. He used his lance to through off his opponent's aim. 

When that happened he hit him with the blunt side of his lance, Sylvain fell. 

"Heh, not bad, Ferdinand." 

He actually did it- He was able to win a fight against Sylv- 

Before he could even turn around, his lance was out of his reach. 

"By- Professor!" 

She winked at him before giving him a treat of the same hit he gave Sylvain. A bit softer though... 

He fell on the ground, pretty much defeated. But at least he was able to put one of them down as well. 

He laid back on the grass, a certain feeling of satisfaction.

"You did amazingly well, both of you, Ferdinand, Sylvain." 

***** 

"And the victorers are... The Blue Lions!" 

He was expecting it, and honestly for him, this felt even better than a win. 

Being recognized for his actual abilities was enough to bring him some sense of joy. 

He knew that this, however, would greatly disappoint his father. But for the first time in his life, he actually didn't mind. 


	12. The Scion Of Aegir

"Uhm... How can I help you?" 

The girl from the Goldem Dear's class, Lysithea.

"I wish to accompany you on your mission this month." 

She had never actually filed for a student to assist her class before... But she was surprised that one of them would want to partake in such a dangerous mission.

"Why do you-" 

"I want to see it myself." 

She assumed some help would be welcomed, although she didn't understand where the white haired girl was coming from.

She was one of those students she always kept an eye on, even though they weren't apart of her class. 

Her talent, was undeniable. She had taken interest in her ever since the battle from last month. 

"Alright. I'll talk to Hanneman and Seteth today, I hope you will be prepared." 

"Thank you, I will." 

*****

"I still have trouble believing that you, out of all people, would bail out." 

"I had been thinking about switching for a while now. It has nothing to do with-" 

"Hmm, you know, I do belive you. I don't think you switched just because we lost." Dorothea giggled before winking at him, she was just being her usual self, he assumed. 

"You had been pretty harsh with Linny and Caspar when they did the same, you should apologize." 

He had never thought of it like this, had he been rude to his fellow classmates in the past? A lot of things seemed to have gotten over his head... 

"You know, I really feel like our class is going to be a bit different without y-" 

He was a bit surprised at Dorothea, she had never expressed but hatred towards him, seeing her feel a bit... sad about his leave made him- 

"Ehm nothing forget about it. Hmm we only have Hubert left from the guys, you should take him along." 

He rolled his eyes at her comment. The best thing about leaving was the fact that he'll have less interaction with Edelgard and Hubert. 

"Unfortunately, I doubt Hubert would leave. But yes- I... I will miss training with you, Dorothea." 

She giggled at his comment, he felt some pride knowing he was able to sew a better relationship with her. 

"We can still train together, any improvement is welcomed." 

He still hasn't figured out the riddle... 

"I'll figure it out eventually, I promise." 

*****

It had been a very rough month for her, she had experienced a lot of drowsiness, even passed out. 

_"Hmm Why is this happening..."_

It seemed as if Sothis was feeling the same as her. 

It's odd really, just a few weeks ago she was beyond happy, but now she was just having an unbearable headache.

Her class had won the Battle Of the Eagle and Lion and... Ferdinand had joined her class. 

It was extremely weird facing Manuella, especially after having snatched three of her students. 

She had not had the opportunity to spend as much time with Ferdinand as she would have liked to. 

She did not want to appear weak, or worry anyone for that. 

And with Remire... Just another weight to put on.

That's when she heard a knock on her door. She went over to open it and...

"I thought you could enjoy a cup of tea- If you're tired I'll just-" 

She looked up to see Ferdinand, he seemed in somewhat of a distress. 

She opened the door for him to enter, he stepped in quickly while balancing the tray with the tea on it. 

He set it on her table that was next to her bed and pushed the chair of her dresser to sit on. She quietly joined him, he only sat after she did, which she assumed was some sort of courtesy. 

"So-" 

"Well-" 

They looked at each, it seemed they both had things to say. 

"You go first, Ferdie." 

He took his teapot in such a gentle manner, opened his tea set and looked at her, asking for her opinion on which tea brand to pick. 

It took her a second to realize that, "Oh- Any will do." 

He looked carefully at the diffrent types, and ended up choosing a rose brew. 

He delicately placed it in, and as if calculating the time for it to infuse its flavor, took it out, just as careful as he had been at the start. 

_"Well you know it's a noble thing- He probably has gotten coached about it. So delicate, you know, that is actually really cute!"_

She couldn't help but giggle slightly at Sothis' comment. 

She looked at him and saw him blushing embarrassingly. "Did... Did I do something wrong?" 

She realized that he must have assumed she was mocking him... When really, she couldn't tell him that the girl inside her head was making comments about how him brewing tea was 'cute', which she agreed with. 

"Well- It's just, you're so focused, I don't always see you like this!" 

He blushed again, this time from her praise rather than embarrassment. 

"T- Thank you." He looked down at his cup of tea as he sat down, she felt as if something was weighting on him. 

"I- I received a letter from father today." 

Her heart dropped, had he discovered about his transfer? 

"He was extremely disappointed in my performance." 

The noble kids of the other houses must have a hard time with their parents, after all, they have an image to maintain. 

"Sometimes, I feel very... incompetent. However... I actually felt real pride that day." 

She looked up to him and caressed his hand softly, "You should, you did amazingly well." 

It seemed as her words were enough to validate him, after all, he did try to keep his "confident" front, but deep down, he was quite insecure. 

He was the one looking at her now, "Didn't you have something to tell me as well?" 

She was going to mention her lingering headaches that started this past few days, but after talking to him, she felt like she didn't have to. It's like he knew, that he could tell she wasn't at her best this week.

"Nothing. I just wanted to make sure you're comfortable and all with the Blue Lions." 

"Oh I am. I still have some differences with Sylvain..." He looked of to the side, cheeks puffed, "But we have been working around that." 

This time she definitely couldn't hold her laugh, his pouting face was probably her favorite of his.

"Same..." 

Now he was at his embarrassed heat again. She wondered if she would ever tell him about Sothis... So far no one knew, not even her father. 

_"Well... Don't mention my existence to anyone! They'll think you're crazy!" She could feel some sadness afterwards from Sothis... "I wonder if he would've liked me..."_

Definitely. That was the only thing she could tell her, but she had not doubt about this claim. 

"It's quite odd to go to Ramire. Just thinking about it, you would have never came if it wasn't for our three house leader being attacked there." 

He took a sip of his tea while being in what seemed his "deep thought" face. 

"I wonder if one of them was aware of the bandit attack..." 

She looked at him a bit shocked, what could push him to such a conclusion?

"Oh! That was just a random thought." 

She hoped it was...

*****

Long weeks of training was endured by them, Byleth sure wasn't going easy on anyone. 

That made him the more surprised that Linhardt would willingly come here, seeing his... Laziness.

Caspar was quick to welcome him in, however he never quite felt that same energy from his other fellow Black Eagle classmate.

He was always avoiding him or ignoring him. At this point, Linhardt and Constance were practically conspiring on him, or so he though.

Just as he was heading towards the stables he saw these two, in the middle of some discussion. 

He had to take care of his horse, so he would go through either ways. 

"I am not worthy of standing next to a noble such as you. I should probably leave to clear your sight." 

"Interesting..." The man was writing furiously in his notes, which is odd because he had never seen him so energetic. 

"Hello, Constance, Linhardt." As he was going through, he had no choice but to greet them both. 

"Oh Ferdinand..." Constnace seemed off, "I am sorry that you have the unluckiness to see me today."

"I- Well I am not used to this. Linhardt?" 

He looked back at the sleepy mage for some answers, he was however met with a yawning from the latter. 

"We'll continue another time, Constnace. Now I am starting to tire up..." 

He was left with Constance, she wasn't taking her eyes off the ground. 

Never had he thought about her being... like this. 

"Did Linhardt do someth-" 

"Not at all. If anything I should be grateful for someone as humble as him taking seat next to a pitiful person as me." 

This was going in a direction he didn't see coming from the woman in front of him. He didn't know what was going on with her... But he should at least try cheering her up. 

"Constnace, isn't life a succession of hights and valleys? To me, being able to speak to you again is a one of the highest hights!" 

"I- I do not deserve such words coming from the eldest son of the prestigious house Aegir. However..." 

He looked at her attentively. Something about her was diffrent... perhaps her entire aura had changed. He didn't understand. What was he missing?

"...Only someone who has never known the deepest of valleys can prefer such inepties." 

He knew about her house's fall... Was that what she referred to as the deepest of valleys? From a house of upstanding nobility to living undergrounds... Perhaps he did not understand such experiences, after all, he had never been short of anything. 

He never woke up wondering what his future could hold for him, after all, he knew what would unfold for him. 

He was destined to be the next Prime Minister of the Empire, the next Duc Aegir. 

The more he thought about it, the more... Unspecific this all seemed. 

Yes he would be a high member of society, and then what? Would he be loved by his people? Will he live to have a fulfilling life? What was his drive, really? 

What about Byleth...? Would he get to see her again? Or will she disappear, leaving to go back to being a mercenary? 

"Ferdinand...? Has my presence bothered you? Of course it has... I will disappear from your sight." 

"Constnace, no. I'm sure this was all... Extremely hard for you." He was at loss of words, what was going on between his thoughts and Constance's dilemma right now was... unsettling.

"So you think the most humiliating event in my life was... hard? I- I need to go." 

"W- Wait!" 

It seemed no matter what he said, he could never choose the right words. Her family, her home, her people, all lost. 

He had been insensitive, reflecting the matter on his own experiences... Nothing that he has lived so far compared to her suffering. 

"Only the Noblest of Nobles can be this ignorent." 

He was starteled by Linhardt, whom had either been listening or came back for whatever reasons.

"L- Linhardt?" 

"Oh here is it! I did feel like I couldn't go to sleep without getting my book back. Oh! Even I noticed how bad you messed up."

He hated having to do this, but "Linhardt! What should I do?" 

The young man looked at him a bit surprised, "You're asking me? I'm probably the last person you should be asking." 

He put his book to his side and sat down, he seemed to be in deep thoughts. 

"Hmmm..." 

Ferdinand was all ears for him, anything...

"Nope, no idea." 

The boy laid back on a stack of hay, comforted by the cloudy weather that blocked the sun. 

"Well you should be able to figure it out." 

That didn't help him much, honestly.

"But start by not bringing yourself up in this kind of discussion. And people don't like being reminded of painful memories..." 

Had he, unintentionally provoked those unpleasant memories of hers... It had been a while since he felt this ashamed.

"I think your existence brings those people their painful memories." 

"... Huh?" 

"Hmm... I am not sure but I feel like this is the case for Dorothea as well. Well what do I know, I'm tired, going to sleep." 

Before he could say anything back, Linhardt was already deep asleep where he laid. 

All that he did was leave him with an unsettling feeling before going to sleep... Typical Linhardt behavior, he should at least finish what he starts.

"Thank you, Linhardt. I apologize for having misjudged you before." 

*****

It had all started like any regular day for him. It had already been a week since his talk with Constance and he hadn't mustered any power in him to go and talk to her, not like she gave him the opportunity to anyways- 

They were having their now usual lance training session. Most of his new class mates were extremely talented with wielding his weapon of choice, and he had no other option but to push himself forward to not fall behind. 

He had started observing Dimitri in action whenever he could. He had a lot to learn from him. 

His goals had changed slightly, but he still had the same ambition of reaching the level where people would have no doubt about his abilities, be it superior to Edelgard or not, that did not matter for now. 

"GUYYYYS!" 

He knew this scream way too well... Caspar. Dimitri immediately approached the rushed boy to see what was wrong.

"The professor said we're leaving NOW! It's not going well in Remire!"

He looked around him to asses everyone's reaction, but before he could do anything he was rushed to the stables by Dimitri and Sylvain. 

"I'll catch up to you guys there!" Ingrid went off on her own to get her Pegasus. 

Honestly, he always wanted to try riding one, but these majestic creatures seemed to have a certain dislike towards men.

*****

"I'll explain everything on the way there! No time to loose." 

When he looked over to his right, he saw a tall man riding his horse next to him. 

"Father, Move it more quickly!"

"Alright, alright." 

F- Father? He realized it was his first time seeing her father, the renowned mercenary, the Blade Braker, and the current head of the Knights of Seiros. 

He was a bit taken aback with how casual her speech with her father was, but he assumed that they just had that kind of relationship. 

However, he hadn't even noticed him. Well for him, he most likely wasn't anything but "one of her students". 

Or had she mentioned him to her father before? He doubted that, he seemed like the kind of man to hunt down whoever approached his daughter. 

But the real shocker was when he saw her. He had heard countless stories about her from Lorenz, whom the latter had tempted to court, but alas to no avail. 

She was having a discussion in the back of the cart with Anette and Mercedes. He was certain that no one had joined the Blue Lions after him so far, was she just assisting? 

"Alright, let's get going!" 

*****

"Oh goddess..." 

She heard Ferdinand behind her, clearly horrified from the sight. 

"KILL! KILL! KILL!" 

This was almost the only audible thing here. Were they going to kill the mad villagers? Was there no way of saving them? 

"It's over for them." 

She looked down to her side to she the white haired Golden Dear stand next to her. 

"What do you mean?" 

"Those who have slipped into madness are lost. Let's focus on saving the others." 

"Lysithea! If there is even a slight hope of saving them, then I say we should try!" 

She turned to see that Ferdinand had gotten closer due to their discussion. 

But yes, she had to make a quick decision. Kill the mad villagers or take a risk by attempting to save them? 

"Kid, what are you standing around for?" 

She also had her father along, but she should take this decision on her own.

She was surprised to not have heard Dimitri's voice, she thought he would have reacted and- 

She looked at him, he seemed... off. 

She was not sure on what course of action to take, however, she decided to not put anyone at risk. 

"Listen to me! Those villagers are gone, we need to save the other ones. If they attack you or the someone else, kill them." 

She looked over at Ferdinand, she thought he would be somewhat unsatisfied by her decision, but he simply nodded.

"I trust you." 

Those simple words pumped her with all the confidence she needed to overturn this situation. 

_"Try not to overdo it with the Devine Pulse... I don't know how much we can handle this time around."_

She had not been at her best this month, overestimating their luck could lead to no good. 

She was only going to use it in case someone... Well she preferred not to think about it much.

"Who are those people?!" 

Dimitri had pointed towards the hill in front, she squinted faintly to have a better look, and yes, there was a group of people... just observing. 

"All of them... They must die." 

She... She didn't expect these words from Dimitri. All this situation was weighting on him, she must finish this as fast as possible.

Perhaps by... "Do you think taking those people down would stop the rest?" 

Truly, Ferdinand had taken the words out of her mouth. He had changed and improved so much... she could only feel pride at this moment.

"That's our best bet. You think we can handle it on our own?" 

He paused for a second, but then nodded. 

"I'm coming along. I... I need to take a closer look." 

Lysithea... Well she knew she was going to be of great help, and with her limited Devine Pulses she couldn't ask for better. 

"Dimitri, Dedue and Anette, go east and see if anyone needs help evacuating. The rest, I'm counting on you to save as many people as possible!" 

She took a final look at Dimitri... She hopped everything would go well for him there. 

"Father! Could you-" 

"I'll go with Dimitri, no worries, just focus on whatever you have to do." He patted her shoulder and looked over at Ferdinand and Lysithea before leaving. 

_"I'll keep a close eye on the others."_

She only needed to worry right now on the suspicious individuals as well as Ferdinand and Lysithea. 

***** 

"Watch out!" 

She pushed him before slashing open one of the murderous villagers. It seems as if he had been waiting for them around the corner... How did she see it coming? 

Either ways, he must not let his gard down, he did not want to be a burden. 

He saw someone coming towards her on her left side while she was fighting off some soldiers, probably allied to the people they'll find on the hill. 

He caught that mage before he could launch any spells and stabbed him through his chest. 

The noise he made were gut wrenching. He will never get used to this, never. 

Lyithea was also taking on all the armored soldiers on her own... He had almost got shot by an other mage while observing her techniques. 

"Stay focused, Ferdie." Byleth came from behind him and ended it with the mage. She was huffing heavily, she needed to rest against the wall slightly to catch her breath. 

Had she been overwhelmed by watching his back? 

With those soldiers out of the way, no one was standing in their way now to reach the top of the hill. 

As they climbed up they realized something...

"Thomas?!" 

"I'm not Thomas, I am Solon the Savior of all. Finally, we get to fight, Fell Star."

"Fell... Star?" He was quite confused, what did he mean by this? He was looking at Byleth the whole time he was speaking, as he wasn't acknowledging him or Lysithea. 

Lysthia had a face of horror on her... She was sweating heavily, that's when he saw it too...

It's as if Thomas's skin was melting off... 

"This is my real appearance? Impressed, aren't we?" 

He was pale, very pale. He overall had a... not quite human appearance, as if the man had came back from his grave as a living corspe.

The simple look of him would have been enough to freeze him in his spot... But he wasn't going to he overcome by his fear this time.

"He's not the only problem... The Death Knight." 

He was startled by the simple name of that knight. He couldn't quite get over the fact that they had both almost died because of him... 

"He's over the side with the other students, I am going over to them-" 

"Leave it to me." 

Byleth wanted to refuse letting Lysthia go in her place, but she realized they didn't have much of a choice right now.

It was quite odd that Byleth knew about the Death Knight's presence, even weirder that she knew his location. 

"With me there, we will be able to handle him. Now before anything..." she turned around to look at Thomas, no Solon straight.

"... What are you planning to do with Flayn's blood?" 

"With her blood, we come a step closer to our goal." 

She looked at Solon one last time before curssing under breath and leaving to join with the others.

"I'm trusting you with this, don't disappoint me." 

They both shook their heads, Lysthia definitely had some guts.

***** 

He looked old and frail, but she knew to not underestimate her opponents. She assumed, however, that he would be well versed in magic. 

That worried her slightly as she knew Ferdinand had little experience with defending himself from those kind of attacks. 

She looked back at him, and as if he could tell her expression apart, he nodded to her, "Don't worry about me, I've trained with Dorothea for that reason. Just focus on taking him down." 

He hadn't mentioned his additional trainings- But this was no time to question his abilities, she trusted him. 

_"You should be more worried about yourself... You're exhausted, and we're down to no devine pulses."_

Hearing Sothis's voice, she knew both sides of her students were fairing well. That at least reassured her. 

"I can feel her presence... the Fell Star." 

_"Fell... Star..."_

She would leave him no openings. She would try to end it all with one quick strike before he would be able to counter. 

If only she could find a single opening- 

"I'll make one for you." Ferdinand rushed ahead of her, she felt her heart drop when she saw Solon casting a Miasma spell at Ferdinand, which made rush into it too. 

Surprisingly... Ferdinand had no real trouble dodging it. 

"When did you-" 

He smiled back at her before she realized to not let this chance go and prepared herself to strike hard with her creator's sword. 

That's when... 

"AHHH!" She heard a synchronized screem... The utter shock of it made her miss her target.

"Well those villagers are no more... You should've tried saving them before coming here... Now before I leave-" 

She was still too distracted with what she heard... Could she turn back time and save those villagers? 

_"We can't... No more turning back time."_ Her heart shrank with this realization.

"Good Bye, Fell Star-" she snapped her head back to realize that Solon was aiming at her, but one of his shoulders had been stabbed into... 

"Argh, we have achieved our goal here..." 

A flash of purple light blinded her for an instant before they both saw Ferdinand's lance no longer stuck in Solon's right side... 

"He's gone..." She said before closing her eyes from exhaustion and falling down next to him.

*****

When she woke up the next day, she opened her eyes to a sobing Ferdinand. 

"I- I was so worried, you suddenly passed out and I didn't know what happened and I-" 

She quickly calmed him by putting her hand over his, it seemed like he had waited for her to wake up all day. 

"Kid, feeling better?" 

She snapped her head to see that her father was right besides them. She quietly let go of Ferdinand's hand like it never happened.

"Well... Ahem. Your other students seem very worried too, when you get the time go see them." 

He looked at her one last time before shaking his head slightly while sighing, he then left them alone in the infirmary.

She hoped that her father noticed nothing... That would be weird to explain.

Ferdinand had pulled a tissue out of his pocket and was wiping his face since he was... well he had cried pretty intensely.

"I'm just glad you're fine. You didn't get injured so I was extremely confused when you passed out. Professor Manuella said it was fatigue." 

He looked at her, somewhat skeptical. 

"...?" 

"Oh, it's nothing. It's simply that your father mentioned to Manuella that you had been feeling unwell this month." 

"Yeah... That did happen." 

"I trusted you to be responsible enough with you health! I had my doubts but..." He looked over to the side, he really did see it coming, or so she felt at least, "...I thought you would tell me." 

He looked sad, as if she had broken their trust. Ferdinand had gotten extremely well at reading her, but some things should always be said out loud. 

He sat back next to her and took her hand in his. "Please... No more hiding things?" 

No more hiding things... Would she tell him about...? 

_"Don't! Not now! Just promise for now!"_

She felt Sothis was willing to ask her to tell Ferdinand about her... She just was not quite ready. 

"I promise, Ferdie. I just wish I could've saved those-" 

"Shh. We did what we could, do not torment yourself, you need rest." 

She sank in her bed, remembering all those pleasant memories she had of that village. 

How cruel of those people, the lives of the survivors would never be the same after today...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took me forever, sorry! Was busy with college and all-


	13. Graceful Footsteps

"Profesor! We should have a meeting in Ingrid's room to decide on our makeup and dresses for the ball!" 

"Anette... It's still about a month away." 

The usually clumpsy young girl was more than determined to drag her and Ingrid into the pits of what she called... Makeup. 

"I agree with the professor. There is no need for such extravagance... And besides, we should perhaps focus on training rather than-" 

"Ingrid... We should have a bit of fun." Mercedes and Anette clearly already had some ideas behind their heads. "These few months have been so depressing... We deserve to put our minds to something else for once." 

She wasn't wrong... But did they really have the right to joyfully celebrate when they had let so many people perish in Remire...?

"I've never really put much thoughts into makeup... but I'm sure that this would give me a more mature look... Combined with Hilda's parfum..." 

Lysethia... She had asked for an official transfer last month. It seems she was convinced of Byleth's abilities from their mission. 

The girl was always trying to act older, which in a sense made her look cuter, but she wasn't going to tell her that. 

"Sigh... I assume I have no choice then." Ingrid shook her head in defeat to both Anette and Mercedes. 

"Yes! And we're going shopping for dresses! I don't want to hear any complaints from anyone!" 

"Alright..." 

Another victory for the small ginger girl it seems. 

"Having fun everyone?" She saw Manuella approach and tap her on the shoulder. 

"I need to have a word with you."

***** 

"Yes, Manuella?" After Lysithea's transfer she was rather expecting Hanneman to come after her. But deep down, she must be overthinking all of this, they really did not care that much. 

"The White Heron Cup is in a week! So, who's the lucky one you have picked?" 

The white what? Was it something she was supposed to know of? 

Manuella stared at her and shook her head in disbelief. "Alright... I see. We still have time." 

Time for...? 

"The white Heron cup is a dance competition. Each class will present a student. A student picked and trained by the professor." 

"..." 

"Don't stay quiet! It's mandatory! How did you not know? Well that doesn't matter I guess..." She paused and started brainstorming for a second. "Alright, I'll help you train him, just pick someone you think is capable." 

"..." 

Manuella paused again and realized how catastrophic the situation was.

"You can't dance... right?" 

She shook her head only to hear Manuella push the biggest desperate sigh she has ever heard from her. 

"Alright, alright. Let's all stay calm and serene." 

She started thinking of a new solution again. "How about I help train both of you?" 

"Um... I'll be fine. Thank you-" 

"Well either ways, just choose someone! Pick the lucky one and meet me in the cathedral after noon." 

Alright... This was definitely not a situation she was comfortable with. 

***** 

"Dorothea! I'm assured that however stands against you will be blown away by your graceful moves!" 

"Ferdie... These compliments are getting me nowhere, but I do belive I will bring the Black Eagles to victory."

"Only the truth, Dorothea!"

"Hmm you're not a bad dancer... but your moves are hard to look at sometimes."

"Oh there is no need for you to compliment me! However I do agree that I shine very brightly when I dance!"

"That's not what I- whatever actually."

The white Heron cup was one of the most prestigious competitions. After all, they would be rated on their moves and elegance while dancing. 

This was all something he was extremely used to. This kind of dance has been taught to him ever since his youngest age. 

"Still no news from your dancer? Isn't the professor taking a bit too much time?" 

He had no worries, he was sure she was studying everyone closely to pick the fatful representative.

He was not about to go ask to be the one chosen, but he would be extremely exalted if it were. 

After all, he was helping Dorothea in her training. He probably had the most experience in their class when it came to the étiquettes of nobility. 

He had observed the Fargheus people more closely after his transfer, and he had realized that most of them were more focused on the art of wars, even the prince himself. 

He wondered what most of them thought of him- A narcissistic Adrestian noble, perhaps? 

He wanted to fit in, he would put his best into it. But sometimes he wondered if their ideals of nobility diverged this much. 

"Ferdinand!" 

He was thrown off when his dear professor burst through into his former classroom. 

"Ferd...inand..." 

She seemed a bit out of breath from running around. Even someone like her could tire, which was proven to him last month. 

She took a deep breath of air before standing back straight again. 

"Finally! I've looked everywhere!" 

Would it have been this unusual to find him here? 

"Hi professor~" 

"Dorothea, good evening. Would you mind if I borrow him for a while?" 

"I'd be more than happy for him to leave, really." 

He looked back at her, she seemed to just be joking. She had been nicer, but she seemed to have not dropped the passive-agressive attitude infront of others. 

He also wondered about- He actually never saw Byleth express any sort of jealousy, despite spending a lot of time with Dorothea. 

Did she trust him this much or did she not care? 

He thought it was a mix. She always gave him all her trust, but she also wasn't the most expressive. 

Well... It is not as if anything was official between them...

She caught his hand, and dragged him off. She seemed a little bit distressed. 

*****

They both got inside the Blue lions classroom before she slammed the door behind them.

"Ehmmm... How do I put this-" 

Perhaps she was distressed about his time spent with Dorothea after all- Had he neglected her with all his time spent training Dorothea in her dancing...

Or perhaps, she wanted to ask him to train her chosen competitor! A wise choice, that would be.

"So... I don't know who to pick for the White Heron thing-" 

It seemed as his record had scratched. "Pardon?" 

"Well you see- I just heard of it!" 

"Oh goddess..." 

Not only were they out of time, but most of his new classroom had little to no real experience when it came to balls. 

"Hmm... maybe one of the girls. Definitely not Ingrid, Hapi or Lysethia... So that leaves us with-" 

"Hm, it's your lucky day! Because, I, Ferdinand von Aegir, am the most talented dancer you will ever lay eyes on!" 

She seemed in shock at first... Had he- 

"You can dance, Ferdie?" 

Perhaps he felt some offense to this comment, why wouldn't he? 

"Ah yes... the ball. This reminds me of my first ever ball, it was in the Empire." 

"..."

"The organization was done by none of ther than the chancelier... my father. The occasion for me to shine as an accomplished dancer had arrived! Everyone was submerged!" 

"..." 

"Petra even told me about the difference in their cultural dances! Perhaps I should get around to mastering theirs as well!" 

"..." 

All his rambling perhaps threw her off of his main point.

"I mean... I do know how to dance."

"Great!" She clapped her hands together. "You'll be representing us!" 

"M- Me?" He couldn't help but blush slightly, she didn't even ask him to perform for her, to check his level. Unless...

"Can you dance?" Was it rude to ask this kind of question this forward? Perhaps with someone else, but they had gotten more comfortable with each others, and he was sure she didn't mind this kind of question.

"No." 

A straightforward answer to a straightforward question then... 

"I don't think Mercedes is as immersed in dancing, Anette and Flayn are too clumsy... And Constance won't come out during the day. Yes, I don't see any better choice!" 

"Well would you like to lear-" 

"I have to tell Manuella, see you in class tomorrow!" 

Annnnd she's gone. 

***** 

He decided to head back to his dorm, as it was already getting darker outside. 

"Hey Ferdie! How did it go with... you know." She looked at him as if he was going to pull a scandalous story to speak off. 

"I will be representing my class in the White Heron Cup." 

She seemed a bit in awe at first. "A bit late... but better later than never." 

She looked over a bit disappointing. "Well, I guess you will just have to sustain a loss against a little puny commener like me in your own field." 

"You're much more than-" 

She yawned in her own graceful manner, "Spare me your long talks, I'm heading off to sleep. Good night, Ferdinand." 

It seemed that no matter how many steps forward he took with Dorothea, she would always run away from him... As if she is trying to put words he would never say into his own mouth. 

The woman was very complicated in her own ways, someday maybe...

*****

A week had passed since then. She was doing her best to make sure he was trained well, even if... She was pretty useless in that domain honestly. 

_"Hmmm I hope we won't be embarrassed from your lack of class."_

She never had time before this to partake in... This kind of activities.

_"Well I wouldn't worry if I were you, you heard what he said."_

Well yes... but she was almost sure Hilda would compete for the dears, and Dorothea was already confirmed for the Eagles. 

_"He's probably more graceful than the two of them combined."_

Alright... Too late to turn back now. She would just have to trust him with this.

_"Why are we even worried?! It's just dancing who cares who wins?"_

Another point. 

_"Hmph... I guess you have been making progress as well."_

She definitely has... She didn't know why, but she wanted to have at least the basic knowledge.

Constance was a harsh teacher, but their midnight dance sessions did their work. 

_"I'm sure she would have loved to participate... Well when it comes to stuck up Nobles, they're on equal footings."_

She knew that deep down, Sothis definitely did not mean any of the mean things she says about Ferdinand... 

_"And anyways... I'm sure he likes Dorothea's company a lot."_

They were close friends now, in an odd way. The woman would bash him infront of her, but would be decently nice when no one was around. 

Was Sothis...

_"I'm not!"_

Whatever she said... She knew she cared about Ferdinand as much as she herself did.

Another quick of sharing the same mind, she assumed. 

_"Let us watch it! Shut it up!"_

The three candidates had entered the room. The Golden Dears... Had Lorenz representing them, interesting. She suddenly felt a weight left off her shoulders.

She waved at Ferdinand from where she was standing, wishing him good luck from afar. 

*****

"All of you! That was a beautiful performance!" Manuella... Would she....

"However, Dorothea was my favorite! Such grace and elegance!" She wondered how deprived of basis this was... 

She looked over to Ferdinand and could feel him tense up slightly. 

"I think I prefered the Blue Lions one. Very swift and quite moves." Shamir had spoken, and she felt a wave of relief. 

She assumed his movements had something about them that would make her remember combat arts... 

And finally Alois... 

***** 

"Incredible... I mean- I never even considered losing an option!" 

"Heh... Yeah, you were amazing. Very swift and precise with your moves, even Shamir liked it."

"She couldn't look away from my incredible moves! ... and that's mostly from my trainings with Ingrid and Felix. Interesting how much I have to learn from the Fareghus people." 

_"He has grown a lot, dont you think?"_

Yes... Sothis was right. He had grown a lot. 

"I do regret that my dear friend Lorenz didn't quite catch the eyes of the judges as much..." 

"Ehm... if you say so." 

"You should definitely get to know him better someday. He's quite the exquisite individual!" 

"Sure..." 

"Well he's not too bad... Neither is Constnace. So I can't imagine him being worse." 

She had definitely learned to not judge those students based on their appearance or status... Most of them had their own stories behind them. 

She saw him look around, as if searching for someone. 

"Oh! Dorothea!" 

He ran along to the songstress, where she seemed to be mostly trying to ignore him, probably unsatisfied with her loss... 

_"Pfff..."_

... 

_"Whatever! Let's go get our minds to something other than this."_

She smiled slightly, feeling the urgent Jealousy that has been building in Sothis. 

*****

"You promised!" 

"Yes, yes, coming." 

Quite a nice day to... To be dragged with the rest of the girls to find a dress. Ingrid seemed just as out of place as her. 

"Ohhh! Look at this shop! Let's go inside!" 

How expensive were these dresses? She hoped she would be able to get out without spending all her money. 

"Welcome! Oh- I see you must be students from the officers' academy." 

They couldn't tell she was... Well either way. 

"Ingrid! Come look here!" 

While Anette and Mercedes were dragging Ingrid in all directions, she caught a red dress by the corner of her eye.

She went over to check it out, when she saw an other hand on it by behind. 

"Professor!" It seemes Dorothea had been a bit surprised by her sudden appearance. 

"Hello." She always had that nonchalant look of hers, which probably didn't sit well with Dorothea. 

It's weird... Just a few months ago she felt as if the young lady almost wanted to switch over to her class... or perhaps that was just her.

"You're here to pick a dress... I never thought you had this feminen side to you." 

"..." 

"Just kidding~" She had heard similar lines from someone else... Sylvain perhaps?

"Oh! Were you planning on taking this one? I had already set my eyes on it actually-" 

"You can have it." 

"This easily...? Well I'm not going to complain." 

She looked at her left and saw Lysethia talking with someone... Hilda? 

"Dorothea! Show me what you got!"

It seemed the two of them were shopping together. 

"Professor! Are you here with the girls?" 

She nodded her head. Actually- "Why did Lorenz represent the dears and not you?" 

"Oh you know Lorenz, and you also know little delicate me~" 

She wasn't sure what she meant by this all, but anyways. 

"Professor! My sense of fashion is uncanny, I'll help you and the girls!" 

"Hilda, we should get back to try our makeups and all-" 

"Oh for once I can use some of my time. Well let's get to it, won't we?" 

"Hmph." Dorothea seemed as she was heading home alone for now, she was probably busy with her preparations. 

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Hilda was definitely a life saver, she had no idea what she was doing here. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter was supposed to be WAY longer, so I cut it in half because I still have a lot of ideas for part 2 of it and it would have taken me another week or so to finish it. 
> 
> So here's the first part! Mostly a slice of life lol next chapter most of the events will happen. Just wanted to build up Dorothea's character a bit more.

**Author's Note:**

> I just couldn't find much Ferdinand Fanfictions, so I took it upon myself... this is my first fanfictions I hope it goes well, I just love Ferdie, he deserves so much love <3
> 
> P.S: I am not really on social media, but if you want to get in contact you can hit me up on pinterest its @Zamazou


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